The Story of Nichole
by Gandalfia
Summary: Meet Nichole. She is a fourteen-year-old girl who is half Jotun (frost giant) and half mortal. She learns of her true self and relives her life. A new character, she is, but she's still something for Asgard to remember. (Characters: Nichole, Loki, Thor, Fandral) Please review and tell me what you think about it so I know if it's a good story and if I need to continue :)
1. Chapter 1- A New Life

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER ONE~

A New Life

ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A GIRL NAMED NICHOLE WHO WAS A FARM GIRL DURING THE MEDIEVAL TIMES IN FRANCE. She had red hair, rosy lips, high cheekbones, and unnatural blue eyes. The night she was born was cold and bitter, yet inside the cabin, it was warm and cozy. Her parents were delighted to see her and loved her most dearly. But Nichole was a strange child. By the time she was ten, she was still practically a toddler. She barely aged, and it was scary. As for her father, he was angry. He and his wife got into arguments all the time because of it. When hundreds years had passed, Nichole noticed no changes since she was fourteen years old. Sure, she was used to not aging, but she was way over one-hundred and she looked and felt fourteen. As she stood over her parents' graves, she felt as if her heart turned to coal. She looked at her hands and there wasn't even one wrinkle. She set her flowers down and went back inside and looked in the mirror.

"Impossible." She said to herself sorrowfully.

Suddenly, the dogs outside started barking aggressively. Nichole ran outside and found one frozen German Sheppard and the other two collies were whimpering. "Oh my God." She said in a shocked manner.

A cold hand grasped her arm. Nichole yelped and turned around. The person grabbed both her arms as she tried to fight it. And in a dark, evil voice, the person simply said, "Granddaughter."

She stopped fighting and opened her eyes and saw a _really _tall man with blue skin, red eyes, and patterns all over his body. "Who are you?" she asked him firmly.

"Your grandfather." He replied simply.

"No, you're not," she answered. "I look nothing like you."

"And so you say. Look at your hands."

"I'm wearing gloves." she glared looking up at him.

"Take. Them. Off." He released her arms and she took them off. Her usual pale Caucasian skin was a lot paler than usual, yet she tried her best to ignore the lines of patterns slowly disappear.

"Hmm," she said. "I guess I'm not as healthy as I thought I was."

The tall, blue man grabbed her arm and her skin turned so pale and white, it was beginning to turn a light blue, and the patterns grew bolder, and bolder, until it began to burn. Nichole yelped in pain and he let her go. She grasped her left arm from which that was the one the man had touched. Needless to say, Nichole was shocked. "Witchcraft!" she cried as she quickly backed away.

"I am Laufey, King of Jotunheim," the tall blue man said. "And as I said before, I am your grandfather and you are my granddaughter. Come with me, we are going home."

Nichole fell to the ground in faint and her vision went black.

Nichole woke up in a normal bed, except it was more of royal than normal. When she opened her eyes, and looked around the room, she was stunned. The bed was warm and cozy, but the room itself was dark and cold. The door opened and Laufey came in. "You're awake," he said. "You passed out from fright on the way here. Tell me, do you have human in your blood?"

"I'm full human, thank you very much," she glared. "And are you sure I passed out from fright on the way here in this God forbidden place?"

He did not answer, except for the "human part." "Are you really full human? If that, then why are you fourteen years old and one-hundred at the same time?"

"I don't know," she replied still glaring into his blood red eyes. "I must have a gift."

"Or perhaps your father isn't really _your_ father."

"What are you talking about?"

"I had a son, Helblindi… He was your father—"

"Okay." Nichole stopped her grandfather.

Laufey's eye's widened.

"As you can tell, I have a lot of questions." she continued.

"Yes, of course." Laufey agreed.

"Such as, where am I and WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU?!"

"We are in Jotunheim," Laufey replied calmly. "And I am a Jotun."

She was silent. "… Oh…" she answered. "Where is my father, Helblindi?"

"He's gone," he answered spitefully. "He died in battle against the Asgardians… Only he was on their side…"

"What are the Asgardians, exactly?" she asked knitting her eyebrows in a curious manner.

"Monsters," Nicholes grandfather replied bitterly. "They took both my sons away from me. One died in my arms, and the other was stolen. Not only did the Asgardians do that, but they also took Midgard away from me. I had it in my grasps, and it's gone."

Nichole gulped. She was quite nervous at this moment, she's never met this blue man before, yet she was curious. "So what is the lesson, here?"

"Never trust an Asgardian."

"What if the Asgardian is your stolen son?" she asked.

"My stolen son is most likely dead!" Laufey snapped.

"Fine, then."

Nichole and her grandfather walked around the cold, dark castle. Laufey explained to her about her powers, destiny, knowledge, and purpose.

"What about my parents?" Nichole asked.

"What do you mean?" Laufey replied. "I just told you everything you needed to know!"

One of the guards ran up to the king. "Sire," He panted. "The Bifröst! Asgardians!"

Laufey looked down at his granddaughter nervously. "Stay here." He ordered Nichole and he ran off. She watched in silence as he was running as fast as he could. Nichole found herself slowly walking to him. She wasn't sure if she wanted to follow him or not, but she was curious as to where he was going and what these Asgardians looked like. So she followed him And there he was sitting on his throne. And she watched at a safe distance and angle on the side. It was a tall broken wall, yes, with holes and gaps in it where people could hide, and she watched from it. She saw six young humans approaching. "Asgardians." She whispered to herself quietly and yet fascinated. She thought (the way Laufey seemed to explain them) that they would be hideous creatures that hunger for blood and revenge, but they looked much different than that. Nichole could barely hear what they were saying, but she saw what they looked like and every movement they made. Two of the Asgardians looked to be royal and the others looked like they were warriors. One of the royal Asgardians was a tall, young man with blond hair, a long, red cape, plenty of armor, and a strange weapon for combat; a hammer. Nichole assumed from how much he was talking, he was the leader of the others.

The other royal Asgardian looked much younger, cautious, and fearful. He had black hair, pale skin, and he wore the colors of black, green, and gold.

The leader seemed to be either arguing with King Laufey, or possibly taunting. Then it fell silent. The two royal Asgardians began to turn away until Nichole heard one of Laufey's own men mock with the words, "Run back home, little princess."

Then all the Asgardians attacked and a battle of chaos was born.

It was a fierce battle, indeed. The leader yelled out to Laufey, "At least make it a challenge for me!" Jotuns came out of nowhere. Nichole hadn't noticed it before that there was a Jotun on her right kneeling next to her this whole time. He was about to jump, but Nichole stopped him knowing how wicked fierce those Asgardians were. Nichole drew her attention to the other royal Asgardian; the nervous one… Except he wasn't fighting like he was nervous.

One of the warriors bellowed in pain. "Don't let them touch you!" he advised.

At that moment, the Asgardian in the green, black and gold was fighting too quickly to acknowledge the friendly reminder. He stabbed the Jotun he had been fighting. The Jotun grabbed his arm, but for some reason, the Asgardian did not yelp. Nichole couldn't see his left hand from that angle (he was practically below her) until he finished off the Jotun and turned around. Nichole tried her best to keep quiet of what she had just seen; his skin was blue, just like Laufey's. One of the other Asgardians got injured and the one in the green, black and gold shouted, "We must go!"

"Then go!" the leader replied. And then the warriors and the other royal Asgardian ran off. The leader smashed the ground with the hilt of his hammer, causing an earthquake among the kingdom. Nichole held the Jotun's wrist in one hand and held onto the side with the other as the ground shook and cracked a bit. Laufey released an indescribable blue beast with tusks. Nichole couldn't watch anymore so she ran off to her room and sat in a corner until she felt it was over.

She heard a large _boom_ that shook the ground some more. It startled her so she looked out her window and saw a flash of colorful light. It flashed again moments later and there was no more. Jotunheim fell silent. Nichole began to sob, assuming her grandfather had died. She cried until she ran out of tears and even then she continued to cry. She thought her grandfather—her only family member she had left—she thought—was gone.

"Nichole." said Laufey's voice.

She perked up looking at her grandfather, arose from the floor, ran up and hugged him. He hugged her in reply and slowly, calmly pushed her away. "I saw you watching on one of the lofts." He said darkly.

She looked down in regret.

"I saw that you stopped a soldier from doing his job and protecting the people of this realm."

"What you just did," she complained. "Was a waste of men." She glared. "I have never seen a place so dark and evil!"

"You have much to learn about the depths of Jotunheim." Laufey replied and walked away with a temper.

Nichole watched him leave the room and she slammed the door and bellowed in anger. She hated him and she wanted him dead.

A week past by and Nichole hated her new home. She wrote in her diary and played in the snow from which that was all she could do. That and scream as she looked in the mirror. She was oh so very observant. She noticed everyone's eye colors were the same except for hers which were beginning to turn red and were still turning red. And her skin. She liked the color blue, but as a skin color? She couldn't stomach it. She thought to herself day by day that she was the real monster, not the Asgardians. But the Asgardians were the first ones who came there to fight. And then she realized whoever leads the Asgardians is the true monster.

Nichole was writing a poem on her bed. She thought of how much she hated her life now. Nichole pulled a dagger from underneath her pillow, but right at that moment, she heard that same loud noise and saw that same colorful lighting reflect on the walls from the Bifröst. Nichole sighed as she set down the knife away from her chest. _"Again?" _she thought. _"The Asgardians are here, again?" _ She missed her grandfather. Ever since that group of Asgardians came, he ignored her. She was hoping to get close, but so far, that wasn't going to happen.

She heard the Bifröst one last time, and she went to the corner of her room which had a window overlooking Jotunheim. She continued to be depressed._ "How can anyone want to even live here?"_ she thought. And she fell asleep. Nichole woke up from what she thought was thunder, but then the colorations of the Bifröst reflected on the walls again, brighter than when you lay in bed and a car passes by your house at night, or what she would think of; when you lay in bed and just outside your window a lightning flashes and strikes the ground. She rubbed her eyes and looked out the window; nothing. "Must be my imagination." She said to herself. She yawned, stretched, and then she went back to sleep. Nichole woke up from the Bifröst again and she sat up and tempered at the window, "By God's name, what is going on—?" the Bifröst was everywhere, destroying everything in its path of Jotunheim. It was getting closer and closer to the castle, so the ground began to shake like an earthquake. Nichole got up and ran to the door. She tried to open it, but it was frozen shut. A feeling of desperation and fear caused her heart to pound in her chest. Someone had locked her in. She tried to open it more and more, but each time it cracked just a little bit, it refroze. She began to hit the door. She kicked it, punched it, no matter what she did, it would not open. Nichole didn't want to die**—**she wasn't ready. The ground shook even more. Nichole screamed as loud as she could. Then she gave up. She turned around and leaned against the door. She slid down the side and watched across the room at the window as the Bifrost destroyed Jotunheim. The Bifröst was already breaking down the castle. Nichole closed her eyes and suddenly it was quiet. Her eyes fluttered open and the Bifröst was gone. She looked around the room and gasped in relief with a thankful smile on her face. She was alive and well. And Jotunheim was a disaster and ever since, Laufey never returned and was nowhere to be found or heard of.


	2. Chapter 2- The Dark Side of Fate

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER TWO~

The Dark Side of Fate

NICHOLE WAS TRYING HER BEST TO WALK TO THE "ROYAL"

kitchen, but she was considering the healing room. After the Bifröst destroyed most of Jotunheim, live didn't seem worth living for. Just getting to the kitchen was deadly. The Bifröst damaged half of the castle, so the floors, walls, columns, and ceiling were in crumbles. There was no ceiling, and the pits and drop-offs were everywhere in the floor. It has been sixteen days since Nichole had eaten something. She yelped from stepping on glass. That's when she realized she was in the kitchen, which looked the same as everywhere else, except there was a column that fell on it so, she felt like an ant. Nichole bent over and began to dig and finally found an apple. She severed that apple for one week and then had to walk back downstairs all the way to the kitchen. _"Great,"_ she thought._ "Another sixteen days' worth of another deadly adventure to get a frozen, bruised apple."_ But Nichole waited three days.

She woke up. Darn. All that was just a dream. All Nichole really had in real life was ice. Nichole began to write in her diary.

_It has been fourteen days, six hours, twenty-seven minutes and eighteen seconds since the Bifröst destroyed most of Jotunheim._

She looked up at the door which was still locked shut.

_That door is still locked. I have been living off of ice. I wish someone could find me._

Nichole set the book down, stood up, and walked up to the door. She thought maybe if she opened it differently, maybe it would actually work. Or maybe the ice melted and now it'll open with ease. Then she realized; if she's half Jotun, then she may have powers.

"Worth a shot." She said to herself. She thought about the day the Asgardians visited and how the Jotuns reacted. They had powers and they used them in a certain way. She lifted her hand, she aimed. And right when she felt the ice surge through her skin, the door shattered. Nichole started to think she caused that to happen as she looked at the hand, until a tall, blue man (or Jotun) walked in and picked her up like a baby. Nichole kicked and screamed. Once she opened her eyes, she saw her room as they were walking away; a box in the middle of crushed up castle. She cursed in her head. This whole time, she thought. I was locked up in a box for fourteen days, six hours, while Jotunheim on the other hand, was rebuilding itself. Well of course she noticed a different kingdom in the distance. As the Jotun set her down in a wagon, she looked around and simply realized that Jotunheim really wasn't rebuilding itself; it already happened. They rebuilt a new city, castle and everything in a different spot. They rode a ways and got out of the wagon. The Jotun shoved her and pushed her all the way to the into the new kingdom and into the throne room.

"STOP," Nichole snapped. "I am not a ragdoll!"

"Of course you're not," said a young dark voice. "You don't look like one."

Nichole turned around and saw a young Jotun sitting on the throne. She slowly walked towards it, trying to see him, but she couldn't because there was barely any light from which made her assume it was early in the morning. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Might I ask the same question?" he replied.

"I am Nichole," she answered. "The princess of Jotunheim, granddaughter of Laufey." The sun rose enough for Nichole to see him from which she was disappointed because the Jotun on the throne was not Laufey, it was a stranger.

He chuckled. "_Princess_."

"Where is my grandfather?" Nichole tempered.

He laughed even more. "You'd think she would be asking for her actual father. This is a joke. Throw her in the dungeon!"

The guards grasped Nichole's arms. She pushed them away and as ice built up around her hands, she fiercely cut and stabbed them with it. Nichole ran up to the king and screamed, "Where is my grandfather?!"

The Jotun on the throne was quiet. "Who is your grandfather, again?" he finally replied.

"Laufey," Nichole answered firmly. "Now, where is he?"

"King Laufey is dead." He smiled.

Nichole's heart sank. The only family she had left was dead. "You killed him?" she asked as she swallowed back a sob.

"No," he answered. "Somebody else beat me to it."

"Who?"

"Some Asgardian."

_Asgardian._ Her heart filled with anger just from hearing that word. "The name?" Nichole asked finally.

"Pardon?" he answered.

"The name," said Nichole. "What's the murderer's name?"

"I don't know!"

She put her sharp, icy hand to his neck.

"LOKI!" he screamed. "The Asgardian's name is Loki!"

"And how do you know all this?!"

"I went with your grandfather, Laufey to kill the king of Asgard—Odin. And after the incident, Odin took pity on me and sent me back here after they rebuilt the Bifröst."

"_Incident_?" she asked.

"Oh come on, do I have to explain more?"

"No," Nichole answered. "You don't." she pulled away. The ice in her hand exploded into little crumbles as she clenched her fists.

The Jotun on the throne made an interesting hand gesture and suddenly, the guards grasped her arms again. And before she knew it, she was thrown into prison.


	3. Chapter 3- A Forgotten Fugitive

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER THREE~

A Forgotten Fugitive

**Sorry about that guys! I posted the wrong document! I wasn't thinking (who does that, right?)! Well here you go, Chapter Three- A Forgotten Fugitive:**

NICHOLE FELT TERRIBLE. SHE FELT AS IF LIFE WASN'T WORTH LIVING AGAIN.

There has been many times where she would try to kill herself, but she just couldn't put the blade through her own heart. She wanted to think about her grandfather, King Laufey, but it seemed like a harsh and raw subject. Suddenly she heard the Jotuns screaming and a bright flash of green light. The Bifröst, she thought. Chaos was outside, and she didn't want to be involved. She remembered the Bifröst was all sorts of colors of the rainbow—not just one color, though, green to be exact. Nichole knew that it had to do with Asgard if it was bright. She figured, if anything, they'd want to kill her along with the others, so she prepared herself. She slowly backed up to the back of the cell and stood there, with her eyes closed. She heard footsteps. They were coming her way—closer and closer. They stopped, right in front of her cell. Nichole opened her eyes to see who it was. She assumed that the person was tall enough to say, "A Jotun—thank goodness!" she said shakely.

"Am I?" he asked. "Then perhaps you are an Asgardian with pink eyes and long, red hair?"

"I may have pink eyes and red hair, but I assure you, I am no Asgardian." Nichole replied.

"Then _what_ are you?" he asked.

She was silent for a moment. Nichole realized who that was. She remembered he was that other royal Asgardian dressed in green, black and gold. She gulped knowing how fierce a fighter he is. If he was going to kill her, she wouldn't stand a chance. "Quiet," she said. "That's what I am, is quiet."

"And you're also the only one in this dungeon?" he answered. "Say, you're a bit young. What are you doing here?"

Nichole hesitated. "I threatened to kill the king of Jotunheim," she finally said. "To get answers to my questions."

"What kind of questions?" he asked.

"Who killed my grandfather? And what was the slayer's name? Those kinds of questions.

"Who killed your grandfather?" he asked.

"Some Asgardian named Loki. That is all I know… Sadly."

The royal Asgardian began to look nervous.

"I'm sorry, but do you know him?" Nichole asked politely.

"Yes," he replied. "I'm afraid I do."

"Will you help me slay him dead?"

"That depends."

"Depends on what?" Nichole wondered.

"Whether or not if you are capable of killing someone." The man answered.

Nichole thought about it for a moment. "I am," she said. "But first you'll have to let me out and tell me the truth of where Loki is, promise?"

The man rolled his eyes. "Children," He muttered in annoyance. He unlocked the door and opened it. "I promise." He answered.

As they walked, the man was silent. Nichole, on the other hand, was excited to be free for a change. And of course, the royal Asgardian didn't care, because he was busy plotting to kill her anyway.

"So…" Nichole began to talk. "Do you have any family?"

"Not really." The man replied.

"Are you royal?" she asked.

"To a certain extent." The man answered.

"What are you, then?"

"I was a prince…" He slowed down. "But now I'm _technically _king."

"King?" she raised her eyebrows. "So you're the one that almost destroyed Jotunheim with that rainbow thingy?"

"_Rainbow thingy_?!" He looked down at Nichole with a funny expression. He thought to himself, she must mean the Bifröst! Just ignore it. I hate rainbows anyway. "That must be Thor's doing," he said. "Because if it has to do with rainbows, it's _definitely_ not me."

Nichole lifted an eyebrow. "I happen to like rainbows."

He chuckled. "You don't appear to like rainbows."

"Now, why do you say that?" Nichole asked.

The man blushed. "Hold on just a second." He transformed into a different man—an old man with a golden eye patch, shaggy white beard, a complicated outfit, and a red cape.

"Who are you?" Nichole asked with wide eyes. "And… What are you?" She leaned closer to him. "Oh my God, you're not a shape-shifter, are you?"

"Shh! What—? No!"

Nichole began to freak out. She looked away brushing her fingers through her hair muttering, "Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" she began to pace. "A shape-shifter!"

He tried to grab her arm to calm her down but she pushed him away and said to him, "Get away from me!"

"I am not a shap-shifter!" he finally snapped. "I'm a master of magic. This is an illusion. So _PLEASE_, just quiet down."

Nichole looked at him blankly. It was silent.

"Any comments?" He asked.

Nichole gulped. "… You're old." She said with wide eyes.

The man blinked. "I'm old," he agreed. Then he looked up at the sky and called, "Hiemdall!"  
>The clouds began to rotate as if a tornado was forming. Little ball lightning flashed in the center and all of a sudden, bright rainbow light fell down upon them. They were sucked up into it and then were pushed into a golden room shaped like a dome. In the center, looked to be a control panel of some kind, except it looked more like a medieval style, but gold. A tall African American man stood next to it. He had a sword in his left hand. His eyes were practically orange—Nichole wasn't sure. But he wore golden armor, and of course, he had shoes. "Welcome back." He said in a deep voice with a British style accent to the man next to Nichole.<p>

"Heimdall," said the king. "Surely you are wondering who this is."

"I am." Heimdall replied.

"This is a friend of mine. I call her Debra."

"Actually it's Nichole—"

"Nichole Debra Feltez." the king interrupted.

"Nichole," said Hiemdall. "Do you mind if the King and I speak in private?"

"No." she smiled, turned around, walked out of the Bifröst, and strolled upon the rainbow bridge.

"Hello, Loki." said Heimdall to the man.

The man transformed back into the royal Asgardian he was before; King Loki. "Please to meet you, Hiemdall. It took you long enough." He said.

"Everyone thinks you're dead ever since the Dark Elves almost took over," Heimdall took a few steps closer to Loki. "Where is All Father?"

Loki smiled. "Where do you think?"

"You killed him."

Loki chuckled. "Of course! What else would I have done? Stuff him in a closet?"

"You take advantage of the fact that Thor is living in Midgard—"

"Why not?" Loki's smile grew bigger. They were quiet. Loki shook his head. "I swear, talking to you is like talking to a robot." He said and then he walked away.

Nichole was still walking the rainbow bridge when Loki caught up.

"Nichole." said Loki.

"I know who I am, but who are you?" she asked eagerly.

"Names?" Loki swallowed. "You want names?"

They stopped walking.

"Of course I want names," Nichole smirked. "How else would we communicate?"

"I don't like giving off personal information, so you can just call me… Sam." Loki smiled.

"Sam…" Nichole drifted off, looking up at the stars. "It's almost as if—I feel like you are somebody else."

"What do you mean?" Loki asked.

"I have a strange feeling that you're not who you claim you are," Nichole looked back to Loki. "I might as well know the truth." She looked at him, waiting for an answer.

Just as they were about to lock eyes, Loki turned away and proceeded to walk without Nichole. Nichole followed. "So I suppose the way I feel is the way it is?" she asked. "You're no more than a lying coward?"

No reply. Loki pretended she wasn't even there. He thought to himself of how annoying she could be. Nichole looked at him angrily. She decided to play the same game Loki was playing: I don't want to tell you the truth, so I'm just going to ignore you, because I'm a jerk and proud of it game.

Nichole shook her head and looked up at the city of Asgard. She gasped of its beauty. It has been a long time since she had seen such glorious light and such vivid colors. She began to realize that if she were to kill this "Loki," she would end up spending her whole life in prison and never have a chance to see this place. Nichole bit her lip. She wanted to say something, but then she remembered about the game _Sam_ is playing. Loki transformed back into that old guy with the golden eye patch and the shaggy beard.

"So what do you call this different _figure _of yours, _Sammy_?" Nichole asked with a snobby attitude and beady eyes.

Loki gave her a sour face. "Odin…" he said awkwardly.

They finished crossing the rainbow bridge. Nichole ten feet looked in front of her and she sighed in boredom. "More black horses? Really? That's all you can come up with?"

They walked up to the horses. "Don't be so depressed, Nichole," Loki smiled as he got onto. "I happen to like black horses!"

Nichole didn't like what "Odin" just said, because he mimicked what she said about rainbows.

Nichole hopped onto her horse. She thought she would have to command it to move along, but when Loki's horse began to trot, hers did the same all the way to the castle.

When they arrived, they dismounted the animals and her and Loki went inside. He led her to a room; a bedroom. Nichole was shocked to see the curtains closed. For such a lovely realm, why would the Asgardians want to close the curtains? By the time she turned around, Loki was gone. Nichole sighed as she walked towards the window and opened the curtains. Once she opened the curtains, behind them was a balcony. She leaned against the rail and smiled as she looked down overlooking the city of Asgard. But it wasn't Earth. It wasn't that beautiful Earth. She continued to overlook the city until the sun started setting and it was evening.


	4. Chapter 4- A Lost Soul

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER FOUR~

A Lost Soul

NICHOLE STOOD BY THE WINDOW ALL NIGHT AND ALL EVENING LONG UNTIL MORNING.

By the she woke up, she realized how hungry she was. She hadn't forgotten she was hungry; she was just really used to ignoring hunger for a very long time. Thus she dashed out of her room and through the halls—she was interrupted by tripping over her own feet. She sat up, her stomach growled as she watched her hands shake from low blood-sugar. She rose and stood firm and walked slowly and calmly forward. She finally made it to a large kitchen, but without hesitation, she went through everything, looking for fruit. For a long time, Nichole was a vegan—until she found a precooked steak. But once she swallowed the first bite, she vomited it back up. Nichole knitted her eyebrows with sorrow because the thought of not knowing what to do when you can't eat anything without the food coming back up instead of down. She tried to remember what she'd eaten in Jotunheim, but all she could remember was consuming ice. But the hunger got the best of her when she saw a peach, so she grabbed it and took a nibble. She thought she would vomit up that one, too, but she didn't. So she continued to nibble.

"What is this?" asked a woman's voice with a Russian accent. "What is this mess?"

Nichole stood up and turned around.

"You," the woman pointed. "Stupid teenage girl, did this?"

"I—uh," Nichole stammered. "No hablan Inglés!"

"You look to speak English." said the woman.

Nichole wasn't sure what to do at this point.

"Come," said the Russian woman. "I take care of you and you may leave afterwards."

Meanwhile Loki was writing and reading paperwork, and was signing off new laws and such. "A new school…?" he read out loud and then sighed. At that moment, a guard entered the room next door (it was two rooms and in between them was a hallway instead of a door). "All Father," he called in the other room. Loki quickly transformed into Odin.

"In here!" Loki replied.

The guard came in holding another paper. "My lord," he said. "The people say they are hungry. They require food."

"Hungry," the king repeated gloomily. "I give them all they need, and they say they are _hungery._"

The guard began to sweat nervously. "Perhaps you should lower their taxes."

The king glared. "What taxes?" he raised his voice. "You _dare _question my antics?"

The guard began to feel pride. He pushed aside his fears. "You thug," he snapped. "All you have is just _antics_! So what else do I have to question? You don't deserve the throne! You tax your people to starvation! _You _should die!"

The king's form flickered. He was so angry, he could not control his magic tricks. "I like you," he said calmly, yet shakily as he stood up from his chair. Loki began to urge forward, walking towards the prideful guard. "Your heart is condensed and pressured with pride."

"It's not pride," the guard growled. "It's patriotism."

Loki chuckled and turned back into his normal self.

The guard grew nervous again.

"There is no such thing as what you call _patriotism_," Loki grabbed his dagger from his desk and held it to the guard's neck. "I would ask you if you have any last words, but I haven't the feeling of being kind."

"You're lucky," said the guard. "Because knowing you dare sit on the throne, I have nothing to live for."

"Really?" Loki chuckled. "No family? No friends? No wife or children?"

"I am a solo man." He replied.

"Solo," Loki repeated. "The more words you speak, the more I feel guilty of showing you my true image. Because even if I did let you live, you'd tell everyone in this castle that I sit on the throne."

The guard nodded in agreement. "Indeed." He said.

Loki laughed until his expression straightened and he slashed the man's throat. The guard fell to the floor. Loki kicked the dead body and some movement caught his eye. Standing at the entrance where the guard came in (the small hallway in between the two rooms), was Nichole covering her mouth with her hands. Loki dropped the dagger. "It wasn't me." He chuckled nervously.

She shakily removed her hands from her lips. She was breathing heavily and then she gulped. "You," she croaked. "You—you—k—kill—"

"I just told you it wasn't me!" Loki's eyebrows lowered.

Nichole began to sweat as Loki approached her. "How much did you see?" he asked calmly.

She shook her head.

Loki raised an eyebrow.

"I—," she stammered. "I—I only saw him fall to the ground."

Loki stroked a strand of Nichole's red hair out of her face and behind her left ear. A smile grew upon his face as their eyes met. Nichole looked the other way, turning her head to the far right as if she was looking behind. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself planning to get away. Nichole wasn't stupid; she knew Loki was about to kill her. She turned around and ran through the small hallway and into the other room. She ran to the door, but once she opened it, Loki appeared out of nowhere. She turned around and Loki was there. And as she turned to different directions, Loki was everywhere. The real Loki came out from the other room and he locked the door she opened. Anger seemed to glare at her through his green eyes, but he smiled wickedly. "Nichole," he said. "I escort you _back _into my office."

She stood glaring at him breathing deeply. She nodded and was brought back into the king's office. The room was clean other than the body lying on the floor. It looked to be eighty feet of perimeter and the area was about four-hundred square feet. At the end; across the room stood a fairly organized desk with scrolls, books, a stack of paper, and pen and a little bowl of ink. Behind this desk, was a royal red chair with gold painted along the edges, and another chair that looked the same, stood in front of the desk facing the other chair.

Loki grasped Nichole's right arm, and brought her to the desk. He pulled out the front chair let go of her arm, and gave way for her to sit down. Loki walked behind the desk and sat in that chair. He looked up at Nichole who was still standing. "Please sit." He offered kindly.

With some hesitation, she sat down. She cleared her throat and stared at the scrolls in front of her.

Loki pulled out two goblets and a bottle of white wine. He poured the wine into the wine goblets all the way to the top. "If you were my brother," Loki placed the left goblet in front of her. Nichole jumped as Loki set it in front of her with a large _bong_! She looked at him with a slight glare. "I would have poisoned your drink." Loki finished. He took a sip of his wine and looked at Nichole as he lowered the goblet from his lips as if he was waiting for her to say something. He leaned back in his chair.

Nichole decided not to say a word.

"You are a _very _intelligent young woman, daughter of…?"

"Helblindi." She replied.

"_Helblindi_," he repeated. "He must be an intelligent man himself."

"I've never met him," said she. "All I've ever known about him is very little. He was a young Jotun when he met my mother. It was love at first sight, I'm sure. But he died in battle and my mother and I were left on Midgard. My mother aged, but I have not."

Loki's eyes gleamed. "A Jotun."

"Indeed," she answered. "I was told he was a traitor of his kind because of his never ending love for my mother."

"I see," said Loki. "What's your mother's name?"

"Her name was Sheri," Nichole faintly smiled. "I'm French."

"I'm sorry for your loss," he took another sip. "Any friends?"

She shook her head. "After my parents died, I had no human contact for years."

"Years," he repeated. "How many?"

"Hundreds."

"How did you get in Jotunheim, anyway?" he asked.

Nichole bit her lip. There was something about this man and Jotuns.

"What I meant," he corrected himself. "What were you doing in Jotunheim?"

She hesitated. "I was living there."

"In prison?" he set down his goblet on the desk in front of him.

"Well, of course," Nichole blinked. "I attacked their king."

Loki gulped. "Laufey?"

She shook her head. "No," she said. "Laufey is dead. He has been for years."


	5. Chapter 5- The Living Punishment

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER FIVE~

The Living Punishment

LOKI WAS SILENT. "WELL, I ALREADY KNEW THAT," HE SAID FINALLY.

Nichole lowered her eyebrows into a puzzled expression. "Ha—how exactly do you already know that?" she asked.

He hesitated. "Perhaps the right thing to say is that word gets around."

Nichole was quiet for a moment until, "Loki," she whispered under her breath. "You killed him," she realized. "Not only did you kill him, but… You killed the last king of Asgard. That is how you sit on the throne."

Loki's eye twitched in rage. "Maybe," he said. "What a pity, I guess. Are you going to drink that?"

"I—this?" she pointed at her beverage.

"Yes." He blinked slowly with impatience.

"Is it poisoned?" Nichole asked.

"No," he confirmed. "I swear it is not."

Nichole nervously picked up the goblet in front of her and took a sip. She set it back down and stared at Loki who then leaned forward (his left elbow on the surface of the desk. His hand did not touch his face, but his fingers fiddled with a pen). He too stared at her.

Nichole felt a tickle in her throat, so she cleared her throat. Then she had a hard time breathing. Suddenly she began to cough. A wicked smile grew upon Loki's face. She stood up, but she fell to the floor, grasping her neck and hacking up blood. Loki arose from his chair and walked around to the other side of the desk, standing over Nichole. She coughed her last cough and inhaled a deep wheezy breath. The room fell silent. Loki reached down and scooped her up. His left arm supported under her knees, and his right arm supported her back (where her ribs were located). Nichole was so light and skinny, that to Loki, she weighed nothing at all. He exited the room and walked through the halls to get to the vault (or Odin's trophy room). But with the power of illusions, he was able to turn invisible so no one saw him. When he entered the back of the vault, he set Nichole down in front of the Casket of Ancient Winters. Loki looked around the trophy room. He remembered what had happened the last time he even touched the Casket of Ancient Winters. Without hesitation, he picked it up and set it in front of Nichole. He remembered that when he lifted that same casket, his true identity of lies was revealed. Loki thought that maybe if Nichole touched it, he may know hers. Once the casket had contact with the floor's surface, a sheet of ice crackled like a bed of frost on the ground. Loki's nervousness began to overwhelm him. He knelt next to the unconscious Nichole. He held her hand the relic. He left his hand laid flat on hers. Blue crept up his fingers, but as for Nichole's, hers did not. Instead her skin grew paler, yet had the same pattern as a Jotun from her head to her feet (which had no shoes on them). Nichole's eyes fluttered open. Loki totally forgot about a Jotun's pair of red eyes, so it startled him when he saw how red Nicholes' was (a deeper red than an average frost giant). She blinked as her eyes were fixed on the Casket of Ancient Winters. Loki even noticed that her eyes looked upward at their hands. He immediately removed his hand from the casket. Sadly, Nichole's eyes followed, so he looked the other way until he knew that any blue shade of color on his skin faded away. Nichole sat up and arose from the floor. She backed away quickly, but ran into the wall. She watched. Loki finally faced her.

"You lied to me," Nichole said. "There was poison in that wine."

"No," Loki shook his head. "I simply drugged you."

"Why?" she raised her voice. "Are you _sure_ that was drugs?"

Loki took a deep breath as he pointed at her hands. At first, Nichole was confused, but then she actually looked down at her hands. She breathed nervously as she stared at the patterns. A tear dripped from her eye and down her face.

"You're nothing, but a monster," Loki sneered. "A Jotun in my kingdom—"

"I am only half!" she interrupted.

"And what is the other half, Nichole?" he snapped. "A mortal of Midgard? Your kind disgusts me!"

"Says a Jotun himself." she screamed.

Loki's expression dropped.

"I _am_ half mortal, and I saw your blue hand drift away from mine." She said calmly.

Loki was silent. "That was only the symptoms of the drug I've given you."

"Was it?" Nichole asked sarcastically. "Was it really?"

Loki felt disgusted. His bitterness of the Jotuns were so strong, he felt he needed to kill something. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Didn't I already tell—?"

"No," he interrupted. "Who are you _really_?"

She was quiet. "I'm not quite sure what you're trying to tell me, here."

Loki blinked. "Who was your father and who was he the son of?"

Nichole took a deep breath. "Helblindi, son of Laufey." She answered.

Loki stood up and backed away until he ran into the wall. The thought of the fact that he had a _real_ older brother was overwhelming. And then it turned out that Nichole was his niece. He shivered. The worst problem of the situation was the fact that before he found out that she was his niece, other than wanting to kill her, he was also beginning to fancy Nichole. _"That's messed up." _ He thought. The vault fell silent.

Nichole stared down at the Casket of Ancient Winters as her skin turned back to normal. "Who else did you kill?" she asked calmly.

Loki stared to his far left (which would be your right) to the Eye of Agamotto which seemed to look directly at him. "Many others." He admitted.

Nichole closed her eyes for a moment. As she opened them, another tear fell from her eye, and to the frozen floor. "Are you really Loki?" she looked to him. "Are you the one who killed my grandfather?"

Loki nodded. "Why don't you kill me now, Nichole?"

She bit her lip. "Because I really can't do it," she answered. "I haven't killed anyone before. And even if I did try to kill you, you would fight back."

Loki sighed in relief.

"You might as well kill me," Nichole continued. "For what I've said, for what I've done. I don't deserve to live. Realistically, I have nothing to live for. I have no friends, I have no family, I have no husband, and I have no children."

"What are you trying to tell me?" Loki asked.

"I want you to kill Me." she said.

Loki shook his head. "No."

It was quiet for a moment. Loki looked back to Nichole. They stared at each other until the doors opened and a guard came in. "Heimdall demands your presents." He said.

Loki and Nichole looked over at the guard. Loki had no time to shape-shift into Odin, but no one felt it was awkward. Perhaps Heimdall told the guard, "Go tell Loki to get over here" Or something.

"Who are you talking to?" Nichole asked.

The guard smirked, turned around and left.

Loki and Nichole looked back to each other as if they were puzzled.

"Perhaps he meant both of us?" Nichole asked.

"I'm not sure," Loki replied. "This is odd; very odd. Come, we should find out for ourselves."

After they saddled their horses, they got onto them and rode like the wind across the rainbow bridge. They stopped about twenty feet away from the Bifröst, and dismounted their horses. Loki led Nichole to Heimdall nervously, yet he didn't seem to show it.

"Loki," said Heimdall with a faint smirk. "We meet again."

"What else do you have to say to me?" Loki asked with a glare.

"Thor is coming tomorrow." Heimdall answered.

Loki gulped. "You told him?"

Heimdall shook his head. "No, but I urged him to come back."

"Why?" Loki asked.

"Because I assumed you wanted to see your older brother."

"My older brother is the heir to the throne," Loki snapped. "I can't have him here! I can't play Odin for that long!"

"Who says you have to?" Heimdall asked. "Being the god of lies, I'm sure you can play it off."

"I am not the god of lies," said Loki. "Nor am I even a god, said Odin himself."

"Who's Thor?" Nichole asked.

"The rightful king of Asgard." Heimdall answered bitterly as Loki said, "My brother, nothing important."

Nichole raised an eyebrow.

"What is this?" Loki asked Heimdall. "Some kind of punishment?"

Heimdall faintly nodded. "I'd say the living punishment."

"What did I ever do to you, Heimdall?" Loki asked. "I can only think of one incident, and that was a _long_ time ago!"

Heimdall turned around and went inside the Bifröst. He settled his sword in the slit, turned around and smirked at him. "Maybe I should just bring Thor here now."


	6. Chapter 6- Falling Down

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER SIX~

Falling Down

HEIMDALL PRESSED THE SWORD IN DEEPER AND SUDDENLY THE ENTRANCE TO THE BIFROST CLOSED AND SOON ENOUGH THE BIFROST ACTUALLY OPENED. Nichole backed away a few steps as she saw a shadow of a human being come through the "Einstein Rosen Bridge" like structure. Loki grew nervous. He looked back at Nichole. "Run," he said. "Let's go!" They ran to their horses, mounted them and made the animals run away as fast as possible. They tried to run to the castle, but Loki's horse was spooked by a snake which slithered by. It turned to a total different direction, and Nicholes' followed.

"What are you doing, you leathered oaf?!" Loki yelled at his horse as it stood up on its hind legs and turned the other way because of the snake. The horses did not listen to whatever Nichole or Loki said to them. The horses ran straight out of the city of Asgard and into the forest. Nichole buried her face in the horse's mane. She wasn't sure what was going on. The horses stopped from a pack of wolves by a little creek that flowed through the middle of the woods. Nichole found herself staring directly into the K-9's eyes and internally screaming as the wolves circled them.

"I hate snakes." Nichole decided.

Loki nodded in agreement as his horse whined.

A wolf growled and the rest barked, howled, snapped, and drooled aggressively.

Nichole's horse began to lie down because it was tired. It lowered its body as if it was ready to pass on. "What are you doing?" Loki asked. "No!"

"Please get back up, please get back up," Nichole begged her horse calmly. "Please get back up."

Loki immediately dropped his hand for Nichole to grab it. "Nichole," he said. "Take my hand."

The horse dropped on its side to the ground as Nichole grasped Loki's hand and he pulled her up. The wolves caved in to the horse and inhaled it, giving Loki the chance to order his horse to run; only when it did run, it ran across the creek, deeper into the woods of fat, lively, old, strong, thick Douglas fir trees. The horse ran so fast, making twists and turns, making it impossible to find their way back. Suddenly they Loki (who sat in front of Nichole) spotted an opening in the trees that quickly turned out to be a cliff.

"Cliff," he shouted. "Stop! Stop!" he ordered his horse, but it did not stop, it continued to run straight to it. Loki had high hopes for the animal to actually stop or turn around, but he quickly lost that hope for once the horse made it to the cliff, actually trying to jump it, Loki reached behind him, grabbed Nichole's arm and jumped off the horse. Sadly, the animal fell into the abyss, but Loki grabbed the edge of the cliff. His hand began to slip. He was cursing grumbling, and growing hatred towards "stupid horses."

"Nichole," he said. "I need my second hand. May you please climb up there to the top and pull me up?"

"Yes." Nichole said as if it was obvious. She began to climb, but once she touched the top with the tip of her fingers, Loki lost his grip and they plummeted into the never ending drop-off.

Loki thought they'd actually _hit _the ground, but they actually missed by a couple of feet and ended up belly-flopping into a river which led to Asgard's version of an "ocean." Nichole dove into the water, but Loki swam back to land, rubbing his stomach with pain as if he was going through kidney stones. Once he grabbed a fern which grew along the river bank, he crawled out of the water and lay there on his back. Nichole quite enjoyed swimming for once. It was like a bath after days of being cold and dirty. Of course when she noticed how Loki lay flat dead on the side of the river, she thought he missed the water. She immediately swam to land and got out of the fifteen feet deep water. She sat down next to him in worry that he was dead, but once she touched his neck to feel a heartbeat, he woke up, grasped her hand and pushed it away. "Get away from me, you wet dog!" he shouted as he sat up.

"You're not too dry yourself." She replied.

"Oh my god," he rubbed his face. "We fell off a cliff. How stupid of me."

"Why, I haven't noticed," Nichole said sarcastically. "I haven't noticed that we plummeted hundreds of feet and into a river. I haven't noticed!"

"Well, I have." Loki glared.

"I was being sarcastic." She squint her eyes angrily.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "I knew that."

"No, you didn't." she sighed.

"I was being honest."

She rolled her eyes. "No." She said.

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Don't argue with me." Loki glared.

"I'll do as I please." She replied.

"No—" Loki stopped himself as he face palmed. "You have no idea." He raised his head.

Nichole grunted in a frustrated manner as she stood up, turned around and began to stomp upstream.

"Hey!" Loki shouted as she was twenty feet away. "Where do you think you're going?!"

"Away from you!" she turned her head and glared.

Loki got up and marched up to her. Nichole began to braid her hair trying to ignore him as he began to yell at her saying who knows what. She began to hum until she finished her side braid and looked up at him. They stopped walking. "You know what?" she said shakily and angrily with an angry smile on her face. "Do you _even_ realize how sick I am of _you_?"

Loki shook his head. "No one ever gets sick of me."

They had a glaring contest until Nichole bent over, picked up a stick, stood up straight and drew a line in the ground between them. She dropped the stick and said. "This is my side," she pointed where she stood behind the line. "And that's your side." She pointed at Loki's side of the line. "Nobody crosses the line!"

Loki walked around the line to her side. "Hey," he said as she glared at him like an angry bull. "I didn't cross the line."

She rolled her eyes.

"What?" he asked. "You didn't say anything about simply 'walking around' the line!"

She bit her lip as she blinked. Nichole picked the stick up again and drew another line in between them. "Nobody crosses the line or even simply _walk around _this line."

"Well played," he commented. "But does that mean I can magically travel to the other side?"

"No," she smiled angrily. "You can't. That's cheating."

"So I can't cheat?"

"No, you can't."

"But what if I do happen to cheat?"

"Loki," she said with her eyes widened. "Don't cheat. Just. Don't." She turned around and continued to walk upstream. Loki wanted to follow her, but he held back, still standing on his side of the line. But once she disappeared into the mist, he stepped over the line. _"Wait…" _he thought. _"Mist? Where did that come from?" _He ran over and through the mist. He noticed that the closer he came to the mist, the wider the river seemed to get. Once he was in the middle of the fog, he tripped over a rock and fell face first in some sand. He got back up and listened. He heard a quiet roar of waves crashing against big rocks and the sound of seagulls peeping out, "Mine! Mine! Mine!" He looked down at the sand, rocks and occasional shells. He walked forward about ten feet and then he found his shoes on his feet in water. The water drifted away and came back up again. The salty wind blew in his face. He hasn't been to a beach before, he thought of it cold, but nice to be around. He looked out as far as he could, and saw waves and to his far left (about fifty feet away) was a little heard of twenty sea lions hanging out in the rocks where the river met the ocean. And to his right, he saw Nichole walking the beach about forty feet away. As you can tell (assuming because he can see fifty feet away), the fog was rising back into the heavens. "Nichole!" he called as he ran up to her.

"Not now, Loki," she said. "I'm haven't the feeling of talking to you at the moment."

"Ouch," he said. "If only that actually offended me."

She looked over and glared at him as if she was growing tired of his personality.

"You seem to know where you're going," said Loki. "It's very comical."

"Is it?" she asked. "Because I have _absolutely_ no idea where I am going."

"I do." Loki smirked.

"Really?" she asked in the highest of hopes.

"No." he replied.

Nichole sighed. "This looks nothing like the coast of France." She turned her head to the ocean.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Last time I checked I was fourteen—"

"No," Loki interrupted. "How old are you really?"

She looked back to him with knitted eyebrows. "I _really _don't want to do the math."

"Okay," Loki nodded. "What year were you born, then?"

"962 A.D." she was quiet for a moment, and then her eyes widened. "I'm old."

Loki shook his head. "No—No," he said. "You're just a little over a thousand, that's all."

"What?" she held back a sob. "By how much?"

"Forty-six, see? You're not old."

Nichole melted down. "1,046?! Oh my gah-ha-odd!"

They stopped walking and Nichole reached over and hugged Loki. "You're probably younger than me."

Loki wasn't hugging back at this point because he wasn't quite sure what to think of this. So he kind of slowly hugged back. It took him about thirty seconds, but he made it work out. So after that, he patted her back and just kind of almost poked it. He hasn't been hugged for a year because his mother died, so he felt pretty awkward. "Actually I'm older than you by three years." He replied.

"Thank you," she sniffled. "That is _so _comforting."

"How long were you in Jotunheim?" he continued to pat her back.

"Sixteen days, nineteen ours, twenty-seven minutes, fifty-eight seconds." She sniffled again.

"How long were you on Midgard?" he asked.

"A little over a hundred years." She answered gloomily.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Maybe you possibly miscounted?"

"No," she said. "Laufey told me that there's a huge time difference in Jotunhiem compared to Earth."

"Interesting," he said. "One thing I didn't know."

"One day can be one-hundred days on Earth or even fifty."

"Another thing I didn't know."

"You're a good hugger, you know that?" she asked.

"No," he realized. "I did _not_ know that."


	7. Chapter 7- The Spiky Sea Urchin

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER SEVEN~

The Spiky Sea Urchin

THEY BROKE FROM THAT LONG HUG AND CONTINUED TO TRY AND WALK BACK TO THE CITY OF ASGARD.

After a while of walking, it became high tide, so they had to climb the side of a mountain with wet seaweed, sea anemones, clams, starfish and all sorts of sea creatures. Nichole's bare feet grew sore. She wished she was wearing shoes. She was also cold and wet. Her brown dress (with ruffles on the skirt half) was sleeveless so even that didn't help. She wished she had a coat or even a shawl, but she felt like she was at the worst prom ever. Thankfully she wasn't wearing jewelry, but she really wanted gloves because not only were her feet bleeding, but her hands were, too.

Once they got on the other side of the mountain, Nichole got so excited, she couldn't focus and she fell fifty feet and into the ocean.

"NICHOLE!" Loki screamed. He jumped off the side and dove in. He didn't like swimming in salt water with his eyes open, but he tried his best. When he reached the surface to get air, he noticed Nichole lay on the wet sand with the waves pushing her and crashing over her like a blanket. He swam out of the cold sea water and to Nichole. He pulled her back to dry sand. She was unconscious, but didn't wake. Knowing that she was his niece, he didn't really like the whole "mouth to mouth CPR thing." So instead he pressed her chest and she coughed up water.

Loki built a fire in the sand and waited for Nichole to wake up, which eventually she did.

She sat up and leaned closer to the fire. She coughed a lot, but she was fine. She looked up at the pitch-black sky. She knew why she couldn't see any stars or a moon: because clouds were covering them. Nichole looked back to Loki who was just coming back with more firewood. "How long was I asleep?" she asked.

"A couple of hours," Loki answered as he knelt and put a log on the fire. "You're lucky you're still alive. You've got a bloody goose egg on the back of your head."

She felt the back of her head and sure enough, it was there. "What happened?" she asked.

"You fell off the side of the mountain and went splat into the ocean." When Loki said "splat," he clapped his hands as if one fell to the ground.

"_Splat_?" she knit her eyebrows.

Loki nodded in agreement. "But you're fine."

Nichole rolled her eyes. "How did I survive?"

"Well," Loki sat down in the sand. "Our life span should be around five-thousand years old, so we heal quite quickly."

"I didn't know Jotuns were similar to Asgardians." She replied as if she had already known that.

"I believe they are." He replied.

"Sadly, that makes sense," Nichole said as she looked at the crackling fire.

"Is there any good news to hear? Because I have grown tired of the bad kind."

"Well," Loki sighed. "Asgard is just around the corner."

"Define corner." She shivered.

"Around that mountain over there," he pointed behind him. "It's too dark to see it, but it's there."

"How far away?" Nichole asked. "A mile?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "Honest to God, a mile isn't that long."

"You're right," she smiled sarcastically. "It's just 5,280 feet away! It's not that far!"

"Indeed." His eyes twinkled in the fire light.

Nichole sighed as she stared at the fire. It was silent except for the crashing waves and the faint chirps of crickets in the distance.

"I don't know about you," Loki said randomly. "But I need to get some rest. You can watch the fire, seeming that you've already got plenty shut-eye. I almost pity you." He lay down on his back and closed his eyes.

"There is no need to watch the fire, methinks." Nichole argued tiredly.

Loki yawned. "You're right, Nichole. You can go back to sleep so than that way I don't have to hear your voice."

"Ouch," said Nichole. "If only that actually offended me."

Loki smiled at her as she lay back down on her side three feet away from him. She looked back at him with a huge grin on her face. Loki rolled his eyes, sighed and turned over on his side facing away from her.

Have you ever woken up on a beach before? Because Nichole wasn't sure what to think about the sheet of sand on her face when she did. Loki was still asleep by the time she woke up and even he had some sand on his face. Nichole was halfway tempted to put a sea star on his cheeks, but she didn't. The fire was already burned out, so she decided to wake him up anyway. Thankfully he was in a good mood when she did. Maybe he wasn't smiling, but he was definitely in a good mood. He sat up, rubbed the sand off his face, Stared at the waves for a moment, stood up and said, "Let's go!"

Nichole was not a fan of walking when she was still half asleep. She wanted coffee, she wanted tea; anything that contained caffeine. Loki on the other hand didn't care and was literally searching for a walking stick instead of the castle. The mountain he pointed to ended up being the mountain with a boulder on the side that he ran into. Nichole was getting sick and tired of his child behavior, so she climbed up into one of the fir trees, broke a branch, climbed down and gave it to Loki who tossed it aside and said, "It's too tall."

"Then break it." Nichole said.

"No," said Loki shaking his head. "If I do that, then it would be too sharp."

"What is the use for a walking stick anyway?" she asked.

"So then I don't trip and fall," Loki smirked. "We wouldn't want that, now would we."

They continued to walk around the mountain and into the forest. "No, we wouldn't." Nichole muttered sarcastically.

"What was that?" he asked as he found the perfect walking stick.

"Nothing," she answered. "That was just an owl. They're everywhere here, you know? They are practically pests."

"What's an owl?" Loki asked. "Asgard doesn't have any owls."

"That's funny, because I just saw one." Nichole began to walk beside him.

"You must be mistaken for brown feathered dragons with big eyes, beaks and feathery horns that say, 'Hoot! Hoot!' when night falls." He answered.

Nichole glared. "Those are owls, Loki."

"No," he shook his head with a playful smile on his face. "I'm pretty sure those are feathered dragons."

They continued this argument all the way to the city gates of Asgard where two guards stood there on… Well, they stood there on guard.

"I am Loki Laufeyson of Jotunheim," Loki approached in an angry manner. "Let me in or else I'll spill your guts out on the ground which grass will grow and the cows will eat your flesh without knowing it."

The two guards blinked at him as if he was a waste of time. "Your identity number?" one of them asked.

"76295347," Loki said without hesitation. "And I believe there is a zero at the end."

"Very well," said the other and then they opened the gates for Nichole and Loki. "Who is this?" they stopped Nichole.

"My niece," Loki smiled. "Beautiful, isn't she? I'm planning on marrying her today at three."

The guards looked at him as if he was both nuts and awkward. Nichole swears to God she heard crickets chirping.

"You're kidding." One of the guards said.

"No, actually I'm not," Loki's mischievous smile grew even larger. "We love each other. Have you ever heard of a hippy? I want to be one and I'm not sure if I'm doing it right," he grabbed Nichole's hand. "I told my niece that she shouldn't shave her armpits and now they are a long, red mess and you would be scared for life if you see them. Ciao! That's goodbye in Italian, I think. Don't you just love the Italians? They make the most amazing spaghetti in the universe. Ah… My mouth drools just by thinking about it—"

He was interrupted by Nichole stomping his foot as hard as she could and then she dragged him away. "Au revoir!" Loki waved his hand as he tried to walk fast and focus on annoying the guards at the same time. "That's goodbye in French! I just love the Franks! They make the most amazing snails in all the nine—Ow!" he tripped.

Once they were about ten yards away from the castle, Nichole stopped him and said, "What the hell was that back there?"

"I was joking," he smiled. "I would never marry you, even if we were the last living beings in Asgard."

She raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't either if you keep this up," said she. "I have no idea what a hippy is and I do shave my armpits."

"I don't." he chuckled.

Nichole was quiet. "Are you drunk or something, I'm not quite sure."

"Oh," he smiled. "I just stepped on a poisonous sea urchin, nothing major."

"Nothing major?" she asked. "You embarrassed the hell out of me and I didn't even know those people." She was quiet again. "Wait, when did you step on a sea urchin?"

"When you were unconscious, I attempted to go fishing in the ocean to find food, and I was barefoot and I stepped…" he yawned. "I stepped on a poisonous, spiky sea urchin… Like I said before."

Nichole knit her eyebrows. "Well, did you take it out?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "But I didn't take it out in time, methinks."

"Youthinks?" she asked sarcastically.

"That's not even a word."

"I know," She nodded. "At least you figured that out, come on." She took his hand and they walked the ten yards and into the castle.


	8. Chapter 8- The Thunder God

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER EIGHT~

The Thunder God

NICHOLE WAS WONDERING IF LOKI WAS LYING ABOUT THE SEA URCHIN IN THE FOOT. She was beginning to think it stuck in his head instead. The longer Loki went without treatment, the more awkward he got. Nichole began to wonder if he was drugged or something to that affair. They went inside the castle. She thought that since it was obvious to be quiet, Loki would do so, but he yelled something random every time Nichole told him to quiet down. She silently brought him to her room in the castle and forced him against his own will to lie down on the bed. He was getting quite affectionate to the point it was annoying. Thankfully each time he tried to kiss her, she pushed him away. She took off both of his shoes and then his stockings. Nichole gagged as she saw the wound. His left foot was very purple and swollen. I'd try to describe it further, but it was _bad_.

"Is it bad?" Loki asked.

Nichole forced a smile as she looked up at him from the foot. "No," she said. "It's not bad at all… It just needs a few bandages, nothing major."

"Are you sure?" he asked lifting his head to look at her.

She glanced back down at his swollen foot and frowned. "Not really." She noticed that green pus was coming out of it, so she moved to the side, reached over, closed her eyes, and squeezed. Loki was bellowing in pain, but she knew he'd feel so much better afterwards. It took her five minutes to squeeze it all out, but in the long run, she got the little poisonous sliver of the urchin's spike out… And the rest of the pus. She dabbed some alcohol on it and wrapped some fabric around it like a bandage. Loki sat up catching his breath from screaming earlier. Nichole walked around from the foot of the bed to the head of the bed and stood next to him. "Ouch." She said with a smirk.

Loki chuckled half-heartedly. "Indeed."

Nichole met his eyes. "You back?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I ain't feeling it."

"Well, you said _ain't_ so l believe you."

They were quiet until Loki reached over and kissed her on the lips for about five seconds and then Nichole pushed him away. Her eyes were as wide as a barred owl's. She was speechless so she pointed at him and opened her mouth and closed it a few times. "Don't…" she blinked a couple of times. "Do that." They stared at each other in silence for a while, so Nichole turned around and left the room. She constantly wiped her lips at the thought of her first kiss she was unprepared for. She didn't know he was her uncle, but if she did, she probably would've wanted to kill him, or something. She was rubbing her lips with her arm as if there was food on them when she literally ran into Thor who wasn't paying attention himself. Nichole fell to the floor, but of course Thor didn't, because of how bulky he is. Thor removed his eyes from the book he was reading and glanced down at Nichole who was still wondering what the heck just happened.

"Oh, I am so sorry," Thor held his hand out for her to grab it. "My apologies, miss."

She shook her head as if she was still trying to shake off the thought of that oopsie earlier. She glanced up and took Thor's hand. He pulled her up until she stood. "It's really no big deal." She knit her eyebrows.

"Look, I know it's too much to ask, but what is your name?" Thor asked.

"Nichole," she answered. "Why?"

"Well," Thor shrugged. "It's just that I practically know everyone here in Asgard… And you don't seem to have a familiar face."

"Ah," she nodded. "Then in that case, I don't recognize you myself. What's your name?"

"Thor Odinson." He answered.

"Odin," she smiled. "That sounds awfully familiar."

"Indeed," Thor smiled. "Speaking of, have you seen him?"

Her smile slightly faded. "Do you mean a real person, or a person of a person?"

Thor's eyebrows lowered with confusion. "A real person." He answered.

"Oh…" her eyes gazed off to the ground. "Then I really don't know what you're talking about."

Thor raised an eyebrow. He was beginning to think of her as some kind of suspect, because he thought of her as a very bizarre young woman. "What if I meant by a person of a person?" he asked.

"Then I could say that I know what you're talking about." Nichole answered.

Thor nodded. "What do you mean by a person of a person, though?"

"An imposter, I suppose." She replied.

Thor's eyes suddenly beamed. "Do you know where this imposter you speak of is at?" he asked calmly.

Nichole suddenly remembered where she heard the name "Thor" at; the Bifrost. The way Loki seemed to betray Thor was as if he was some kind of criminal. "That way," she pointed in front of her. "Turn left to the next hall, go straight, and you'll see a series of doors. The fourth door on the right."

"Thank you." Thor smiled. He turned around to the direction he came from and went exactly where she told him. Nichole went back to the room where Loki was at and locked the door so than that way Loki would have a better chance of being safe. She wanted to find some weapons. She didn't know where the weaponry was, so she walked around the castle until she found it. When she entered, she found that it was filled with swords, scepters, shields, battle axes, armor, and all sorts of things. She went straight for the armor. There was a bunch of armor in different sizes for men and women. She grabbed the one breast plate that fit her and tossed it to the floor. She noticed that there was special clothing for battle, so she grabbed a skirt, mail shirt, basic black tank top for underneath the mail shirt, leather boots, sword, shield, she decided not to grab a helmet, sword belt, and last, but not least, gloves. She put the sword belt around her waist so than that way she wouldn't accidently stab herself. She picked up the pile not knowing how heavy it was, but she made it so. Nichole walked back to her room where Loki was at. She unlocked the door, entered it, dropped the battle supplies in her closet, and closed all the doors in the room. Loki was fast asleep, but she really wanted him out. She needed to tell him about Thor. Now since she let the cat out of the bag, she felt it was her duty to keep a close eye on both Thor and Loki. Sure she knew Loki more then she knew Thor, but they seemed… Strange. They seemed depressed, charming, and occasionally happy all at the same time. She walked out onto her balcony and stared at the city of Asgard in awe.

Nichole found herself falling asleep while standing on the balcony outside of her bedroom. She was startled by a knock on the door during the evening, so once she woke up, she dashed over to the door and opened it a crack to peek through; Thor. He noticed her and a faint smile grew on his face. Nichole waved her fingers instead of her hands as if she was saying hello and shut the door completely. She spun around and looked directly at Loki who was still fast asleep. "Disappear." She pretended to cast a spell with her hands as if she was a character in Star Wars. She gave up and ran up to Loki. She stared at him for a moment and then pushed him over so then his back was facing the doorway instead of his actual face. Loki groaned for a little while. Nichole held her breath until he stopped and then she pulled the blankets out from underneath him and lay them up and over his head until she couldn't tell who it was. "Stay still, now." She whispered and ran up to the door and opened it. "Hullo," she smiled. "I wasn't quite inspecting you."

"Oh?" he asked as if he was concerned. "Well, I'm sorry to intrude if—"

"No!" She said louder then she wanted to. She hesitated. "No, no, no, it's fine." She said quieter.

Loki groaned and then yawned.

Nichole closed her eyes tightly and then opened them until he stopped.

"Is someone here?" Thor asked.

"Nothing but my fiancé." She lied with a smile on her face.

"You're engaged?" Thor lowered his eyebrows. "Aren't you a bit young?"

"Of course," she said and then she leaned forward and whispered, "It was an arranged marriage…"

Thor nodded in agreement. "Well, congratulations, then."

"If only I felt the love." She shook her head.

Thor raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"It is the worst relationship in all the nine realms." She sighed.

"Look," said Thor. "I'm not single myself… Now I was going to invite you to dinner—"

"Take me with you." She interrupted.

"Well in that case then follow me." Thor smiled.

"Splendid!" she replied.

"Nichole?" Loki asked half asleep. "What are you doing?"

Nichole's smile faded. "I'm just going out with a couple of my friends!" she replied.

Loki's eyebrows lowered. "You have friends?" he asked.

"I say," said Thor as he tried to peek to see who it was. "That voice sounds awfully familiar."

Nichole shut the door to a crack as Loki got up out of bed curiously and said. "I say, that voice sounds awfully familiar."

"Loki?"

"Thor?"

"What?" Nichole said with a puzzled expression as she backed away and Thor opened the door himself and came in.

Thor and Loki stared at each other. "You're engaged?" Thor asked finally.

"Uh…" Loki blinked. "Yeah—no, actually…"

"Then explain this!" Thor grabbed Nichole's hand and showed it to Loki. "Explain this ring that mother would roll in her grave because how proud she is!"

Nichole has always had her mother's engagement ring on so, as you can see, Thor and Loki were quite confused.

Loki scratched his head. "Well, I guess you can say—"

"I thought you were dead!" Thor realized.

"Here it goes." Loki rolled his eyes.

"What happened to father?" Thor snapped.

"He died in his sleep," Loki answered without hesitation. "Why? Didn't you know?" Loki was really trying his best to make sure Thor thought that he wasn't lying to him, which he was.

Thor swallowed back a sob. "No."

"I sent out the messengers, did they not make it? They confirmed your reply."

"Perhaps the wrong Thor?" Nichole suggested.

"No," Loki shook his head. "I highly doubt it, _cupcake_. Who else would name their child 'Thor?' That's like saying, 'this child is a **Thor**n in my side.'"

"Yes, but who else would name their child 'Loki?' That's like saying, 'this child is… Too low-key for my blood.'"

"Hey, mother said that being low-key is a good thing." Loki stuck up for himself.

"Being low-key is just ill, plain and simple." Thor argued.

"Well, being a Thorn is even worse." Loki muttered.

Nichole found herself looking from Thor to Loki, Thor to Loki as they settled their "brotherly conversation." They began to talk about that one time they jumped off the side of a bridge and into the water and Loki broke his leg and they were teenagers. And that one time they did this and did that and did this and did that. The conversation went from that to Thor saying he thought Loki was dead and then back to the last conversation. Nichole was confused until Thor asked if he could talk to his brother for a moment. So she left the room and shut the door behind her. She wasn't sure what to do, she almost felt guilty for lying. So she went towards the kitchen.

"Loki," said Thor. "Why must you continue to lie to me?"

"Hey, I was truthful." Loki replied thinking he was in trouble about faking his death and then killing Odin.

"Really?" Thor asked. "That lady of yours… How did you propose to her? Did you force it or did she willingly accept?"

Loki sighed in relief and shook his head. "I don't know." He said and then Thor came over and patted him on the shoulder.

"You did well," He smiled. "You are a lucky man, brother."

Loki chuckled a bit. "Yeah, but if only we actually had a relationship."

"It's hard." said Thor.

"No, but really, Thor," Loki glared. "She's my niece. She and I will…" he tried to do hand gestures for _kiss, kiss_, but it didn't work out too well for him. "Yeah, she and I will never happen."

Thor's smile faded. "Oh, well my apologies brother," he said and then his smile grew again. "Oh, I know that trick!"

"What trick?"

"You just want an excuse to have a private wedding!" Thor pointed.

"No," said Loki. "No, no, no, that's not what it is!"

"Loki," Thor shouted. "You listen up! She is a ginger and remember when mother said that she wants ginger grandbabies?"

"I am not giving mother grandbabies through Nichole, Thor!" Loki replied. "We. Are. Related. _Related_…"

Thor chuckled as he patted Loki's shoulder which seemed really close to hitting. "You are such a liar, it's funny."

"Brother," said Loki. "She is the daughter of Helblindi Laufeyson. _Laufeyson_,"

"Oh?" Thor chuckled. "That's funny because she told me you two were going to get married."

"Did she, now?" Loki asked sarcastically.

"Yes," Thor replied. "She even said it was an arranged marriage. Did father—?"

"No," said Loki. "I mean, she said that to you?"

"Yes." Thor nodded.

Loki held his breath. "She's a liar," said Loki.

"How can she be a liar? Did you tell her you two are kin?"

"No."

"Why?" Thor asked.  
>"I haven't the time," Loki replied. "I stepped on a sea urchin and…" his eyes widened. "Damn, I kissed her."<p>

"You kissed your niece?!" Thor raised his voice with wide eyes.

"Silence, brother," Loki whispered sternly. "She could be listening."

"You're not a very responsible uncle." Thor whispered.

"Again," said Loki. "I stepped on a spiky sea urchin."

"No excuse," Thor replied. "Shameful… Oh so very shameful…"

"Indeed." Loki slouched.


	9. Chapter 9- Gone

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER NINE~

Gone

NICHOLE WAS HANGING OUT IN THE ROYAL KITCHEN EATING AN APPLE. About a day ago, a Russian cook told her that in order to get back into a normal eating routine, she had to eat fruit. Nichole didn't want to eat fruit; she wanted to eat steak, pork chops, turkey, cranberry chicken, smoked salmon, Lamb, anything that's meat. She took a big bite of the apple and chewed it with spite of not eating meat. It made her hate Loki even more. "_Meeeaaat_…" her stomach growled. A cook passed by her and set a dish of lamb chops on the counter she leaned against about three feet away from her. Nichole was about to sneak a bite of it when the door opened and Loki came in. "Don't you dare touch it!" he stopped Nichole as her fingertips were one inch away from the protein-filled deliciousness.

Nichole grumbled in protest as she brought her hand back to the edge of the counter. "I feel anorexic," she said with wide eyes. "I need food. _Real food_! I've grown tired of fruits and vegetables. Loki, I'm not a _vegan_."

"What?" he asked. "Since when did I tell you that you can't eat meat?"

"You didn't." she said.

"Then if you want to sneak a bite of the lamb chops, then—"

"You mean I can eat the meat?"

A smile grew upon his face so quickly, it was almost a laugh. "Now that I think about it, I'm not sure why not."

Nichole reached out her hand and right when her fingertips were an inch away from the fresh cooked meat, the Russian cook came in and shouted, "No!" she came over and slapped Nichole's hand away from the plate. "No touching of the food," and she pulled out an apricot. "Eat this. It good for you."

Nichole frowned at the fruit as the Russian cook walked away. Loki was trying his best to hold back a chuckle, so he almost sounded like he was snorting, only he was exhaling instead of inhaling.

"Not funny." Nichole glared.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Loki shook his head. "I should have known, it is truly sorrowful!"

"Are you still reacting from that sea urchin?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"No," said Loki. "I don't think so… Hey, now that you bring that up, I think I kissed—"

"Yes," she interrupted. "Thy lips sucked and poured onto mine with such incredible wetness, I could not decide if that was an Asgardian kissing I or a fish."

"Well, if you put it that way…" he scratched his head.

Nichole rolled her eyes. "At least you didn't do anything worse."

"Thank God," Loki sighed in relief. "I actually thought I…"

Nichole closed her eyes with annoyance, she was even thinking about face palming.

"Well, at least I'm not your uncle." he chuckled.

"At least," she nodded. "Although that is a queer statement."

"Indeed."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" she asked.

Loki raised his eyebrows. "More questions?" he asked.

"Of course." she replied.

Loki sighed. "I just wanted to tell you something."

"And that something is?"

"Oh?" Loki began to stammer. "I—uh—wanted to—tell you that…Um…" _Spit it out! Spit it out!, _Loki thought. "That I am very happy that I met you." _Damn I'm so foolish! I could've told her I was her uncle! If she wasn't here, I'd be hitting myself in the head! That is the fakest lie I've ever told! _

Nichole smiled and giggled a bit. "I'm please to meet you, too."

Loki smiled as he slowly walked backwards towards the exit. "I will see you later, at the dinner table." he turned around and right when he touched the door handle to open it, he turned around again to Nichole. "Now about that kiss…"

"What about it?" she asked, her smile faded as she fiddled with the apricot, tossing it upward and catching it with the same hand over and over again.

"I…" His eyes drifted to the floor of the far left. Not too low, but low enough for Nichole to see that he was debating on whether or not to say something. "I apologize… Because I really can't say anything else about it."

Nichole looked into his eyes. She, too was debating. She didn't want to say, "_It's okay_," because it really wasn't _okay_. "I forgive you," she replied. "Just… If you ever get drunk… Or anything, just stay away from me."

Loki sighed. He looked back up into Nicole's eyes, forced a smile, turned back around, opened the door and left the room. Nichole realized how harsh her tone was; really harsh. She knew Loki felt guilty about kissing her. "It's not as big of a deal as Loki is betraying it," she thought. "I don't understand." she didn't know that she was his niece, but she has just noticed all those key words he had said: _"My niece. Beautiful isn't she?" _and, _"At least I'm not your uncle." _She was beginning to suspect so. Her eyes squinted and her eyebrows lowered as if she was deep in thought and had just realized something; a suspicion that might possibly be a reality.

The first thing Loki did was walk straight into the throne room and sit on his throne. He was very much lost in thought. Loki felt guilty—so, so guilty. Have you ever done something and didn't think of it when you did it? And then you think about it after a while and then you feel really, really bad and you want to make up for it and when you did, you just didn't feel like it was enough? This is how Loki felt. He used to do whatever he wanted and not have a problem… But now he has a niece and he doesn't want her to think of him as a burden. He messed up and totally ruined a future friendship.

"Did you tell her?" Thor asked once he entered the room. "Brother?"

"Huh—? oh," Loki reposition so he was sitting up right. "No… Not really..."

"You didn't—?"

"No, no, no," Loki waved his hands as if he was trying to correct him. "I… Scarcely told her."

"What?" Thor asked as he lowered his eyebrows with confusion. "W—what did you say?"

Loki sighed. "I told her at least I'm not her uncle."

Thor shook his head. "Pity that," he said. "I should tell her for you." He turned around and almost exited when Loki stood up from his chair as fast as a bolt of lightning, flashed into a new form of his; same Loki yet very different outfit. His helmet of horns was silver, his new cape was black, he wore armor of silver, his eyes went from green to grey and in his left hand he held his scepter which was what he used to stop Thor as he shot him with pure tesseract energy. Loki dropped the scepter, his form flickered a couple of times, and he changed back into his normal appearance and of course, the scepter dissolved on the floor.

Thor lay on the ground, grunting in pain as he sat up. He shook his head from daze. Thor touched his forehead which was bleeding and looked at his bloody finger. He looked up at Loki with an expression that asked, "Why?" And then his expression straightened into anger as he summoned Mjolnir and stood up. "Loki!" he bellowed in rage as took a couple of steps. "You dare threaten me!"

Loki smiled which quickly turned into a chuckle. "You truly entertain me, brother!" he said sarcastically.

"You haven't changed." Thor grumbled.

They charged each other and fought. Loki—whom all he had was a dagger—managed to use magic tricks to sneak up or defend himself. Loki disappeared as Thor almost hit him in the head with Mjolnir. Loki managed to reappear behind Thor and cut him in the shoulder blade. He tried to slice towards his neck, but Thor quickly spun around with a yelp and almost hit him with his mighty hammer. Loki tried his best to change back into that odd form he was earlier so he can use his old scepter. After a while, Thor gave up on trying to find his brother and summoned lightning which caught Loki in the chest right where his heart was to the point he could have died. Once the lightning hit him, he instantly appeared and was by a column twenty feet away from Thor who stopped for two reasons: A- Loki also gave up and was what looked like he was retreating. And B- he heard a girl screaming. Loki fell to the ground, shaking from a seizure.

Thor dropped his hammer and looked directly to whom was screaming: Jane who stopped screaming and was staring at Thor with sorrowful eyes. Suddenly she disappeared into thin air. Thor was beginning to think he was going crazy, but he swore he just saw his girlfriend. "Loki." he said to himself. He thought Loki was doing this, but it really wasn't. He readied his hammer and then the room went dark and Thor and Loki were gone.


	10. Chapter 10- Sif and the Warriors Three

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER TEN~

Sif and the Warriors Three

AFTER NICHOLE WAS DONE THINKING, SHE WASHED OFF HER APRICOT AND ATE IT. After that, she left the kitchen. Sure she was hungry and unsatisfied and she just couldn't wait until the day she was able to eat normally, but she was kind of happy she was out of the kitchen. She was curious as to what a specific room was that she hasn't been quite yet. The doors to it were huge; about ten to fifteen feet high and were guarded by two guards on either side. Nichole was wondering what was going on in there, so she walked up to the door and was quickly rejected because she was dirty. So she went back up to her room (here, let me fully describe her room for you: You enter it from the door and you see that the first half would be shaped as a square. It would be the size of a normal room; fifteen feet all around. The bed against the wall next to the window—which led to the balcony—across the room in front of you who is standing in the doorway. If you look next to the door, you'd see that there is a walk in closet and if you look down, you'll notice that the floors are hard and look to be marble, except they are the color of gold with patterns. Now if you took a few steps forward and inward, look to your left and you'll see that there is more of the room; stairs about five steps down, but as long as wall to wall. Now, if you walk down the steps and enter the other part of the room, you'll see that it would be a large rectangle that measures thirty feet on the long sides and only twenty on the short sides which would be the front where the stairs are and of course the back end. I am not saying that the full length from the stairs to the back measures fifteen feet; I'm saying that it measures thirty feet. Now to describe that side of the room, there is a fire pit as big as a cow in the center and on the left wall is a large window from the stairs to the back so it was very bright. Potted plants lined up by the window and blossomed in all different colors. On the right side of the room there is a bigger closet full of old beautiful dresses that were definitely not Nichole's. Now on the wall next to that closet was a painting of a river bank that led to the ocean. Nichole was definitely there quite recently. In front of you at the back end of the room is a bathroom where a tub in the center, cabinets along the walls, hanging towels, a mirror, et cetera). Nichole went into her personal bathroom, turned on the hot water, changed out of her clothes and got into the tub. She cleaned off her body with soap and cleaned her red hair with shampoo and conditioner. She rinsed off, stood up and dried off with a towel. She drained the tub, got out of it, brushed her hair, left the bathroom and into the bigger closet, found a dusk blue silk dress with one strap on the left. From the strap to the hips, was a pattern shaped as flowers made of blue seed beads, and a thin line of more of the same pattern as wide as two inches to the knees. The dress was not poofy, but it was definitely a fancy ball gown. Nichole put it on and put her hair up in a bun. She found a jewelry box inside the large closet and inside the jewelry was thousands of diamonds, gold, silver necklaces, rings, earrings and as you can tell, this jewelry box was the size of a trunk. She found a pair of silver earrings which were not too fancy, all it was, was an inch long dangly with a diamond hanging at the bottom. She put that on and found a basic necklace made of silver with no charm on it at all. She figured that now she can enter that festive room she was interested in. So she put on the matching high-heels, left her room, walked a ways and went up to the entrance of the place she wanted to go. They of course let her in and she smiled as she saw how everyone was dressed in fancy clothing and were eating as if it was Thanksgiving day. It was Valhalla, but she didn't know that. This tall young man that looked to be of course in his twenties (so did Nichole, but she still thought she was fourteen) with short blond hair and a small beard came up to her, picked up her right hand and kissed it. "May I escort you to my table with my friends?" he asked.

"That depends," Nichole smiled in a friendly manner. "My name is Nichole, what's yours?"

"Fandral," he answered. "An honor, I say, to meet you."

"And so it is a pleasure." she said as Fandral took her hand and walked to his table with his friends.

"My dear friends," Fandral smiled. "This is a new person, as you can see. Her name is Nichole. Nichole, Meet Lady Sif, Volstagg and Hogun." Volstagg and Sif waved with a friendly greeting and Nichole did the same in reply. "Dear young lady," Fandral turned to Nichole. "Where would you like to sit?"

"I honestly am not sure." she replied.

"You are welcome to sit next to me." Sif offered.

"Thank you, Lady Sif." she said as Fandral pulled the chair in front of her and she sat down.

"Splendid!" Volstagg smiled cheerfully under his red, shaggy beard as a plate of a full turkey was set in front of him.

Nichole smiled as a waiter was bringing a plate of a stir fry over and which her smile faded as it was set in front of Sif and of course the Russian cook some how came out of nowhere and set a bowl of fruit in front of her. Sif on the other hand didn't seem to be interested in feasting at the moment. "So, Nichole," she said to her with a warm smile. "Where are you from?"

"Midgard." she answered truthfully as she fiddled with her fork.

The Warriors Three all gasped. "She is no more than a human." said Hogun.

"Yet she said Midgard," said Sif to Hogun. "Think before you speak. Tell me, Nichole, How did you get here?"

"Well," Nichole thought of how to tell her story without lying. "I was brought to Jotunheim against my own will and was held captive as a princess," she answered. "And then I was saved by this man… And he brought here."

"Jotunheim," Sif repeated in awe. "Well, that must have been a trip."

"Quite a depressing one, indeed." said Nichole.

"Indeed!" Volstagg replied with his mouth full of turkey.

"Tell me, Milady," Fandral said in interest as he sat in his seat. "Who was this man that saved you?"

"I'm not sure," she answered. "Once I entered Asgard through the Bifrost, he just sort of… Disappeared." Nichole did not like lying at all. She knew this was going to backfire on her soon because most likely Loki would introduce her to Sif and the Warriors Three and He'd explain the whole truth.

"Fascinating…" Sif looked down at her plate. "What did he look like?"

Nichole at this point gave up on lying so she told Sif and the Warriors Three what he looked like.

"Sounds like my best friend's brother." Fandral frowned.

"I say," Volstagg swallowed his food. "Didn't he die?"

"Die?" Nichole asked in worry.

They all looked at her. Nichole cleared her throat. "I mean… He died? Does that mean my savior is a spirit?"

"No." said Hogun with a glare.

"It only means he faked it…" Sif said deep in thought.

"Maybe Odin…" Fandral thought out loud. "Is not really _Odin_."

Nichole took a piece of honeydew and ate it nervously.

"Nichole," Sif changed the subject. "Were you starved in Jotunheim?"

"I never had the chance to eat… Why?" she asked.

Sif was quiet for a moment. "I don't see Loki saving people… It's just not his personality."

"Maybe he didn't mean to," Fandral stated. "... He could have went to Jotunheim to create chaos and found a pretty girl."

"Now _that_ I could see happening." Volstagg replied.

Nichole held her breath. They were figuring out everything and she didn't even have to explain much. "So," Nichole stuck her fork into a piece of watermelon. "If I heard you right, you said his name was Loki?"

"Yes." said Fandral as the others nodded.

"How long have you known him?" she asked.

"Years," Sif replied. "Fandral, Thor, Loki and I go way back."

"How far?"

"Since first grade, I'd say." Fandral answered.

"Intriguing." Nichole said. She kept thinking about how all that made sense; how they were able to figure everything out about Loki.

Nichole, Sif and the Warriors Three fell silent.

"But why would Loki disappear?" Sif asked. "He would never do that."

"Embarrassment?" Volstagg suggested.

"No…" Fandral said as if he had just realized something. "He was hiding from Heimdall."

"No one can hide from Heimdall." said Hogun.

"But only a master of magic." said Sif.

"Think before you speak." said Fandral.

"Have you been in contact with him ever since?" Sif asked.

"Yes," Nichole admitted. She bit her lip as they stared at her waiting for an answer. "I lied to you…" she said. "Yes, he saved me and brought me here… I wanted to kill Loki because he killed my grandfather. I didn't know who the man that saved me was until he told me. He told me finally after a day and I… I couldn't do it… He seems too dangerous and… And I've grown so close to him."

They continued to stare at her as if they knew something she didn't.

"Perhaps you think of him as 'sweet and charming.'" said Sif.

Nichole nodded.

Fandral shook his head in disapproval. "Loki is dangerous."

"Yes," said Nichole. "I already knew that." Suddenly memories came flashing back. She knew that Loki was the royal Asgardian that came with a young man who appeared to be a leader and she remembered there were three warriors and one woman with them. "Thor," she whispered under her breath. "Three warriors."

"Pardon?" Fandral asked.

"You all came with Thor and Loki and… And created chaos."

"Chaos upon _what_?" Fandral chuckled. "That is all we used to do!"

"I'm not sure what you're trying to tell us here." Sif said.

"You all came to Jotunheim with Thor and Loki and fought against the Jotuns for no apparent reason."

"We were only children!" Fandral laughed. "We were no more than immature teenagers—"

"With high testosterone levels." Sif turned her head to her left at the end of the table where Fandral sat.

Fandral coughed when he finally got the joke.

Volstagg cleared his throat. "You know Thor?" he changed the subject.

"I only met him today." Nichole answered.

"Nichole," said Sif. "I know what you're thinking. Thor is not a bad person; he's changed. Loki on the other hand is worse each time I see him. He is nothing but chaos itself. Take it from the person who has grown up with Thor and Loki."

Nichole was quiet. She wasn't sure if she could believe them. _"Although," _she thought. _"Loki _is_ the one who killed my grandfather." _Nichole nodded. She understood, but she still knew she had to watch her back. She felt as if she couldn't trust anyone at this point.


	11. Chapter 11- Alfheim

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER ELEVEN~

Alfheim

THOR AND LOKI WOKE UP IN A CAVE. They were the same distance away from each other when they first disappeared, but Thor just didn't like the fact that he was in a cold, dark, icy, slippery cave… With rocks because he just tripped over one. Thor was still trying to find his brother. He felt guilty; he took the 'self defence' move way too seriously. Loki was lying on the icy ground somewhere in that cave unconscious and he had to find him. Suddenly Thor heard a groan in pain and then a cough which he quickly ran over to, tripping over big rocks and falling face first into the ice. He finally found Loki by seeing a human shaped figure lying on the ground unconsciously and still. "Brother," Thor said shaking Loki's shoulder. "Brother." Thor felt around Loki's chest to find the neck to feel a pulse, but instead he felt a burned, bleeding wound over his brother's heart. After a while of hesitation he felt for the neck (which he shortly found) and found a pulse. Loki coughed again, but hard enough, he woke up because his chest really hurt and being in the cold temperature didn't quite help the pain.

"Loki," Thor shook his shoulder again. "Brother."

"Yes, yes, I'm—," Loki coughed. "I'm fine." he said as he sat up.

Thor looked around as a little light shed through the opening of the cave. His eyebrows lowered as if he was wondering about something. "Where are we?" he asked under his breath.

Loki turned his head to look through the opening. "Jotunheim." he guessed.

"No, Loki," Thor shook his head. "It can't be. Look at the sun. I think we're in Alfheim."

Loki coughed again. "Figures. The second coldest realm in the universe."

"At least the Light Elves are peaceful here." Thor said.

"They are no more than allies, brother." Loki replied.

"_Allies_?" Thor repeated. "They're friends."

"They _were_ friends," said Loki in a specific tone as if he was warning his brother. "Light elves are takers; not givers."

"Since when have they changed? I remember them as givers and not takers."

"They have only changed ever since the dark elves invaded Asgard," said Loki. "Believe me, Thor. I've been here recently."

"That doesn't make sense." said Thor.

"They are not the same singing, joyful, giving, loving elves you remember," Loki explained. "They were allies with the dark elves when they invaded Asgard. Now they are no longer friends with us."

"Are they dangerous?" Thor asked.

Loki watched the sun as it arose over the snowy mountains in the distance and the snow off the trees falling to the ground as the realm prepared for the day to be a thin layer of snow on the ground instead of ten layers. "There are good elves and bad elves, brother. Just like good mortals and bad ones."

Thor took a deep breath. He stood up and reached his hand in front of Loki whom looked over and took it and Thor pulled him up. Loki—with a faint limp—was still healing, but was yet in pain, sat on a rock until he finished healing.

"Aren't you glad mother cursed you to be a lot like Asgardians?" Thor chuckled.

"Indeed I am." Loki smirked.

"You'll heal soon enough," Thor's smile faded. "Give it some time."

"Ah…" Loki grumbled as he placed his hand over the wound. "I'm too impatient." and he used his magic to force it to heal within less than thirty seconds.

Thor sighed with a glare. That was one thing about Loki; he just couldn't handle pain like a normal person. Teaching him magic was the worst idea his mother had and now all Loki uses it for is his own reasons and nobody elses. "Thor," Loki looked up at him as if he was going to ask a question.

"Yes, brother?" said Thor.

"Have you noticed anything suspicious about… Well… Asgard?" he asked.

"Well," Thor thought about it for a moment. "No, actually. But I have noticed there is—or was—something different about _you_."

"The scepter…" Loki guessed with a frown.

"That and… You're strange new cow costume."

"What strange new cow costume?" Loki grumbled as he lowered his eyebrows.

"The silver and black one," Thor answered. "Well, I should have said 'scary new cow costume,' but it is what it is."

"What about the green?" Loki's green eyes narrowed.

"I'm pretty sure it was just black and silver… Well maybe blue if you count the scepter." said Thor.

"I was wondering why that scepter was silver." Loki thought aloud.

"But S.H.I.E.L.D. took it away from you," Thor mentioned. "how were you able to hold it in your hand?"

Loki shook his head. "I'm not sure."

"I saw Jane," Thor admitted. "I think someone is messing with us."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Loki frowned as he looked back to the opening. "And then we were brought here…"

"Are you saying that a light elf is toying with us?" Thor asked.

"In a mischievous way, yes." Loki confirmed as he watched a bird hop from tree branch to tree branch.

"How do you know if it is meant for mischief, brother?" Thor asked. "It could be for vengeance or robbery."

"It could be," Loki agreed as he stood up and faced his brother. "But what did we do to them?" he asked. "I haven't really met a light elf."

"But we are royalty," Thor realized. "You're a king, and I am no more than a prince… Perhaps the throne of Asgard is what they want."

"If they wanted the throne of Asgard," said Loki. "then that would mean the light elf is allies with an Asgardian or some other heir to the throne who wants to rule all the nine realms."

"If it is an heir, then that would mean they would be my kin," said Thor. "I'm not sure about your kin because they are all Jotuns."

"That would make sense, though," Loki thought out loud. "Jotuns are all terrible creatures."

"I would really hate to bring this up," said Thor. "But what if it is Nichole?"

Loki hesitated and then he shook his head. "N—no. It cannot be Nichole."

"Was she a prisoner in Jotunheim?" Thor asked.

Loki nodded.

Thor whistled. "She is definitely a suspect, then."

"What about uncle Vili?" Loki suggested.

Thor gasped. "It cannot be uncle Vili," he said. "Uncle Vili would never do such a thing!"

"But when was he ever there for us, eh?" Loki asked. "I was ten last I've seen him."

"So?" said Thor. "I'm still never going to think of him as a suspect."

Loki sighed. "Fine. Uncle Vili is no longer a suspect."

"Cousin Nótt?" Thor asked.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Cousin Nótt is too nice. No."

"Yes, but _too nice _can mean_ too much of a suspect_."

Loki thought about it for a moment. "She could be, I suppose..."

They were quiet.

"Skadi?" Thor asked.

"Who's that?" Loki replied.

"An old friend from kindergarten." Thor answered.

"Are we related to her?" Loki asked.

Thor shook his head.

Loki sighed.

"We should think about this later," said Thor. "But in the meantime, I don't think we should stay here where we landed. The light elf probably wants us to stay."

"But where are we going to go?" Loki raised an eyebrow. "To the mountains?"

"Yes," Thor agreed. "That's a very good idea."

"That's a terrible idea." Loki objected.

"Then why did you say it?" Thor chuckled as he walked past Loki and towards the opening of the cave.

"Not fair!" Loki raised his voice a bit as he followed. "Not fair at all!"

Thor continued to walk as Loki followed objecting and whining about how cold he was while Thor kept reminding him that he was a Jotun and Jotuns don't get cold.


	12. Chapter 12- Fire Upon Valhalla

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER TWELVE~

Fire Upon Valhalla

EVERYONE STOPPED EATING WHEN THE DOORS SWUNG OPEN AND A GUARD CAME IN SWEATING NERVOUSLY. "Thor and the King are missing!" he announced.

Everyone began to whisper to each other and even some panicked.

"Loki," Nichole muttered under her breath.

"Pardon?" asked Lady Sif.

"Thor and Loki are missing," Nichole whispered. "How did that happen?"

Sif shrugged.

"Why are we whispering?" Volstagg leaned across the table in a whisper.

"I wish I knew." Fandral muttered.

"Nichole is right," Sif said normally. "How could Thor and Loki disappear so quickly? Last I've seen Thor was no more than an hour ago."

"Don't be silly," said Fandral. "It's probably just one of Loki's games he plays all the time."

"Loki plays games?" Nichole asked. "What kind of games? The annoy the hell out of the person you're around all the time, kind of games?"

Fandral began to laugh in his seat. "That, too. But he also plays other games like Hide and Go Seek."

"Isn't he a little too old for Hide and Go Seek?" Nichole glared.

Fandral thought about it for a moment. "Naw."

Sif rolled her eyes. "One time when we were teenagers (Loki still is, but we aren't), he disappeared and we had to go a long ways and when we finally found him, he was in his closet."

"What do you mean by, '_Long ways_?'" Nichole asked.

"Five realms," Sif bit her lip as she nodded. "Only took us a couple of months."

"What led you to looking in five different realms?" Nichole asked.

"He wrote off notes like a treasure hunt and Thor took him to the literal."

"Ah."

"The point is," said Fandral. "Loki is Loki; he's dangerous, treacherous, selfish, mischievous, traitorous, rude, he's a _criminal_."

"What did he do?" Nichole asked. "I mean… Besides killing someone I know?"

"He has killed hundreds, Nichole," Sif answered. "He's a bad person."

Nichole frowned at her bowl of fruit. She wasn't sure what to think about Loki now.

At that moment after the people finished murmuring to each other, a blond girl with rosy cheeks, blue eyes, wearing a basic silk Asgardian dress stood up and announced to everyone. "I'm going to find them! Who's with me?"

Everyone cheered in reply saying, "Hurrah! Hurrah!" But no one else stood up.

Nichole looked over to the girl and then down to her bowl of fruit. She bit her lip for a second as the girl's voice echoed in her head, _"Who's with me?"_

"I'll go!" Nichole stood up.

Everyone quietly stared, wondering who she was.

"I'll go with you!" Nichole finished. She moved aside from her chair, walked out into the open and approached the young girl. She lifted her hand for the girl (who was staring at her as if lobsters were crawling out of her ears) to shake it. "Nichole." Nichole said with a faint smile.

The girl was silent for a moment. She forced herself and shook Nichole's hand. "Sigyn." she replied seriously.

Nichole nodded and they faced the crowd. Sif and the Warriors Three stood up and approached Nichole and Sigyn and stood next to them. Nobody else seemed to want to go, so they cheered for them. Nichole looked around and noticed that the guards didn't seem to be, "on guard" anymore; they seemed to be serious and they glared at everyone around them. So when they all shimmered with white light and turned into Light Elves (which look just like Asgardians, except their skin glows, they are never ugly, they have light blond hair, pointy ears, their accent is similar to an Australian's, they have magical powers, their eyes are unnatural glowing colors, and just a wee bit taller), Nichole wasn't surprised. You could even tell because she shrugged as if she was saying, "Figures." And Sif was glaring at her as if she was with them or something.

The elves were wearing the guards' outfits. Instead of having a sword or a staff in their hands, they had gun-like figures that were the color of a pearl in a metallic way and a strange flame-like clear figure with the color of silver burned around it without any smoke. They fired at every person in front of them (which quickly fell to the floor) except for Nichole, Sigyn, Sif and the Warriors Three, telling everyone to stand back. The people immediately backed away to the back wall, except for Nichole. She stood where she was on guard.

The lead elf walked up to her (so close, it was definitely invading her personal space, because his face was two inches from her face). He looked angry and frustrated (might I say young and handsome?). His emerald green eyes glared into hers. "I said back away." he growled.

Nichole tried to take him seriously; she just wasn't that way. "No." she glared.

The lead elf raised his hand and slapped her and she fell to the ground grasping her cheekbone. Nichole was wondering why it hurt so badly and why it felt so wet. She looked up at his left wrist and wrapped around it was a silver bracelet that had a strip that went all the way up to the palm of his hand with a small (one centimeter long) blade that spiked out, and at the tip of it was some blood. Nichole widened her eyes as she sat up. She touched her right cheekbone (which was the one he slapped) once more, looked at her hand and noticed the blood. Nichole stood up with fury in her eyes.

The other light elves began to laugh at how she was willing to glare at the lead elf that way.

"Arild," one of the elves chuckled as he approached the lead elf. "I don't think you slapped hard enough—she's still standing!"

"She's brave," Arild said in a calm voice as he still looked into Nichole's eyes. "... And strong."

"And dying!" the elf laughed. "Your spike-glove is quite poisonous—give it time; she'll die!"

"Here, lad," Arild turned to the elf as he gave him his gun. "Watch her as I look for Nichole, Daughter of Helblindi."

Nichole snapped out of it with a blink of an eye. Her expression quickly faded into nervousness as Arild then said, "If I don't find her within ten minutes, next time I see her, not only will I be the last face she sees, but all the people she knows will die in my hands. Eric!" he yelled at one of the elves as he walked away.

"N—no." Nichole muttered under her breath.

"What's that, princess?" the elf in front of her mocked.

She held her breath for a second and then she purposely fainted and fell to the floor. The elf raised an eyebrow. "That was queer." He said as he knelt next to her and checked her heartbeat by setting his fingers on her neck. Nichole tried her best to force her skin to change blue. She felt her muscles tensing and the liquid in her body freezing. "Holy Alfheim—Lord Arild! Lord Arild—what kind of poison did you—"

Nichole opened her eyes and froze the elf. Her skin turned back to normal as she stood up. Icicles grew upon her hands to the point they were sharp enough to cause damage. Suddenly every Asgardian in the room began to scream and run.

Arild looked at the doors which were still open. "Close the doors!" he demanded and the elves closed the doors. Some of the people got out, but not many. Once the doors were shut and every exit was closed and locked, the elves used their guns to keep the Asgardians back. Nichole looked around wondering what Arild was doing. Suddenly the room fell room was separated; on the back side, was the Asgardians and Nichole in the front, still wondering what the elves were going to do—on the other side (the front side in front of the doors) stood the elves and Arild in front of them. Nichole looked around the room—trying to figure out a way to escape and if needed—to save the people. Suddenly she was caught off guard as she looked over in front of her and saw that the elves were spilling gasoline all over the ground and the walls. Her eyes widened as they brought a candle from one of the tables and lowered it towards the ground. "WAIT!" Nichole screamed.

They stopped and looked over at her.

"Wait," she said calmly. "What are you doing?"

Every elf laughed except for Arild as they sent it to a blaze.

"No!" she screamed as she ran over and freed her hands from the ice around them, but quickly found herself rejected from the heat as she backed away. The light elves seemed immune (assuming since fire is light) as they laughed with mockery. The fire quickly went to almost a full blast as the elves disappeared. It spread quickly around the room—the Asgardians screaming, crying, praying and hoping. Nichole's vision began to go blurry as she fell to the ground. Sif and the Warriors Three tried their best to find a way out. Sif saw Nichole laying on the floor. "Try and find a way out," she said to the Warriors Three with her voiced raised from the noise of the people and the fire crackling. "I'll go and help Nichole!" She dashed over to her and pulled Nichole up to stand.

Nichole's eyes fluttered open and she pushed Sif away as she ran around the room, looking for people. She found herself trying her best to ignore the heat as she found a baby left on a chair crying. She reached over and picked him up and carried him to the back side of the room where the fire burned least and where the people were. Nichole looked around and noticed that at the windows at the right side of the room, half of the people were trying their best to break it down.

"My baby!" a woman cried as she took the baby out of Nichole's arms. Nichole hesitated and then ran up to the window. All she could do was freeze it… A flame caught her arm as she put her hands flat on the glass. She yelped in pain as she—instead—threw ice at the fire which did not work at all. The fire was hot; hotter than any flame on Midgard. She moved further away from the fire and began to try and freeze the glass as she screamed, "Stay away from the glass!" the ice was quickly melting as she froze it. She began to get frustrated (blowing her hair—which fell out of her bun and was now down—out of her face), so she hit the window as hard as she could and it did not break. Nichole gave up, sat down on the floor and didn't even give the time to cry; she just watched the fire burn the room and many people. She began to think about her mother and her father in Midgard. How she was raised in France and loved it there. She wanted to go back home really badly, which gave her the urge to get up and try again, and this time, the glass shattered to pieces and everyone in the burning room that was alive fled out, jumped a couple of feet down and ran across the royal garden as far away from the place as possible. Nichole was the last to get out because she was watching the Asgardians flee and still thinking if that was really happening. Suddenly, it blew up and Nichole found herself flying, falling and then landing hard on her back into a little ten feet wide, one foot deep creek that flowed through the garden. Her vision went dark.


	13. Chapter 13- Too Dangerous to Love

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER THIRTEEN~

Too Dangerous to Love

IT WAS HECK OF A MOMENT WHEN THOR REALIZED HE HAD LOST MJOLNIR. They had walked up to the bottom of the mountain they were supposed to climb. It had a frozen waterfall coming out of it and snow everywhere, so everything sparkled in the sunlight. There, when Thor was about to summon his hammer as they looked up, trying to see the top of the mountain, is when Loki looked around and said, "Where's your—what so called—'mighty hammer?'"

Thor looked to his brother. "Just wait a minute; it's going to come." he raised his hand and summoned the hammer, but it did not come. Thor looked down at his hand. "Huh…" he raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe you should holler for your lady friend one more time." Loki suggested sarcastically.

Thor glared. "It will come." and he tried again.

There, they stood for ten minutes as Thor tried to summon his mighty hammer which never came. Thor gave up, and it began to snow.

"Well," said Loki. "I think climbing would be a wise choice by now." He turned to Thor. "You've been friendzon—"

"Shut up." Thor interrupted.

"... Ed." Loki finished.

Thor and Loki glared at each other without blinking until Loki's eyes went dry and then he—of course—blinked. "Ahh," he grumbled as he rubbed his eyes.

Thor chuckled and then they began to climb. After a couple of hours, they were hundreds of feet high.

"Brother," Loki complained. "We are close to the top, yes?"

Thor stopped and looked up.

Loki almost fell when he ended up grabbing Thor's shoe instead of a piece of rock that he could grasp.

"Loki, let go of my shoe." Thor growled.

Loki's foot slipped and gravel tumbled down to the bottom of the Mountain. He looked down and watched the pebbles fall. "I—I can't!" He shouted. "Just—just tell me how close we are to the top!"

Thor squinted as far as he could to see the top. "Eh… No more than two-thousand feet." Thor climbed a little higher, found a loft wide enough for three people and climbed onto it. Yet he did it so fast, that when Loki looked up, his eyes widened. He was not sure if he should be happy, or frightened. "THOR!" He called at the top of his lungs.

Thor peaked and looked down from the loft. Suddenly, when he saw the ground over one-hundred feet below, he felt faint, so he gulped and barked, "I'm right here!"

Loki frowned. "Oh." and then he climbed up to the loft and sat down.

The two brothers sat there watching the snow fall in silence on the total opposite sides of the loft. Although Loki decided he was afraid of heights, so he made sure he was six inches away from the drop-off. "Now I know," Loki panted. "Why I don't mountain climb."

Thor turned his head to Loki as if he was crazy to say such a thing. "Jane takes me out on mountain climbs all the time."

Loki glared at his brother. "Remember when I said I liked her?"

"Yes." Thor replied.

"I take that back." Loki said.

Thor smirked faintly with a slight chuckle.

"She is the most… _Fetching_ mortal I've ever seen," Loki continued as Thor chuckled some more. "No, seriously. And she's also the worst!"

"She slapped you," Thor smiled. "You like violence. And that was violent."

"I don't think you've been slapped by her before." Loki raised an eyebrow.

Thor shook his head with a smile. "Many of times, brother."

"Apparently not hard enough," Loki muttered. He leaned over and looked down to the ground, gulped and sat back. "I hate mountains."

"It's not _that_ bad." said Thor.

Loki raised his eyebrows. "But it is."

The two brothers were quiet for a couple of minutes. Loki was about to fall asleep, but then Thor said, "We should keep climbing. Come along, Loki!"

Loki was faking sleep at the moment so then he would get a longer break.

"LOKI!" Thor screamed.

"Ahh!" Loki jumped and opened his eyes wide.

Thor was laughing so hard, he couldn't catch his breath. "Come on." he chuckled as he stood up and began to climb.

Nichole opened her eyes and she was in her bed. She felt a bit warm, so she removed the covers and noticed one of her legs was in bandages. She was still wearing the same dress, but it was burned in some areas. And someone was nice enough to take off her shoes. She peaked over and saw her shoes sitting by the bed. She laid back down and stared up at the ceiling. She was hoping that last night was just a dream, but it wasn't. Whoever helped her surely weren't nice enough to change her clothes. Nichole thought about it for a moment. _"Sif isn't the one that helped me, now is she…" _She sat up and took the bandages off her leg. The wounds were completely healed. Nichole began to suspect it was Fandral who had helped her because she said she was from Midgard. He must've thought that Jotuns are similar to Midgardians, but Nichole didn't feel like thinking about all that detail. All she knew was that she still had some water in her lungs from falling into a one foot deep creek and getting knocked out in it. She got out of bed and stretched. the first thing she did after that, was go into the bathroom and take another bath. Then, the second thing she did was get dressed into a comfortable, plain, white dress that ended just over her ankles with long sleeves. She was still wearing the necklace she wore last night, but she wasn't wearing the earrings which (she didn't notice this) were sitting on the nightstand next to her bed. She brushed her hair until it dried (because she didn't want her hair to dry a mess) and when it did, she left it down because when she a little girl, she has always thought that princesses look pretty with their hair down. But she noticed how long her hair was; it went down to her tailbone. She decided it was time to cut it. So, she found some scissors and cut it straight across in half, so when she was all done, it stopped at the middle of her back. She felt better and her head felt easier to move. Sure, her hair was shorter than any other Asgardian woman she has seen, but like I said, she felt so much better. Suddenly she heard a knock on her door, so she went up and answered it. "Fandral," she said. "What brings you here?"

"Last night I found you drowning in a creek," he said. "May I come in?"

Nichole nodded and Fandral entered her room. "I assumed this was your room. Was I right?"

"Yes." she nodded as she closed the door.

Fandral turned around. "I closed your closet door for you. It was open."

Nichole gulped nervously, yet she didn't say anything.

"There was some armor inside it… Even some weapons," he continued. "You're lucky I didn't tell anyone."

Nichole sighed in relief. "Thank God." she smiled.

"Yes," he agreed. "I talked to Heimdall this morning… Assuming you know who Heimdall is?"

"Yes," she stroked a strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear. "I met him when I first came here with Loki."

"Of course," Fandral nodded. "He says he knows where Thor and Loki is."

Nichole's eyes widened with curiosity and interest. "Where?" he asked.

"He said they were on a mountain in Alfheim… Assuming you know where Alfheim is?"

"I went to school there." she said sarcastically.

"Really?" he smiled.

"No," she shook her head. "But what are they doing on a mountain."

"Heimdall said they were escaping," Fandral answered. "I'm not sure which mountain, though. I asked, but he didn't answer."

Nichole was silent. "We have to help them." she said silently.

"No," said Fandral. "That is the Army's job, not ours. We stay."

"No, we go." she argued.

"We stay."

"We go."

"We stay."

"Okay, stop arguing with me," Nichole snapped. "I'm a princess, got it?"

He nodded.

"I suspect that Loki is a relative of mine," she continued. "I don't know for sure, but I need to talk to him… If he is, then he's my only kin I have to love."

Fandral shook his head. "Loki is too dangerous to love."

"No one is too dangerous to love." Nichole said calmly.


	14. Chapter 14- Christmas Trees

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER FOURTEEN~

Christmas Trees

WHEN THEY WERE HALFWAY TO THE TOP OF MOUNTAIN, LOKI FINALLY GAVE UP AND ALMOST USED HIS MAGICAL POWERS, BUT HE COULDN'T BECAUSE THEY WERE TAKEN AWAY ONCE THEY LEFT THE CAVE.

"Curses!" he bellowed.

"Why don't you just use your magic?" Thor asked.

"I can't!" Loki replied. "They won't work!"

"Maybe that was just one spell that didn't work!" Thor suggested.

Loki sighed and then he began to try and use every magical spell and nothing came out. He began to hit the rock (mountain) out of anger, but nothing happened.

"Loki!" Thor bellowed as he was already fifty feet ahead of him.

Loki climbed as fast as he could, constantly grumbling about how much faster he could climb if he had his powers back. Once he caught up to his brother, Thor suggested he should try using his ice giant powers.

"They're _Jotuns_, Thor." Loki corrected.

"Either way." said Thor as he climbed a little higher.

Loki took a little moment to aim his hand at his brother's butt to freeze it, but even that didn't work and he found himself hitting his hand against the rock and screaming, "Curses!" again.

Once they finally made it to the top, Loki of course, was angry.

"You expect for us to camp out _here_ for days?!" he bellowed. "We might end up _living_ here! Look at it, Thor! This is no more than a peek! I can't live on a peek! There is only enough room for one person to lie down! _One person_, Thor! And then it's an over two-thousand feet drop off! _Over two-thousand feet_, Thor—"

"Maybe you should just get your own mountain." Thor chuckled.

Loki's eye twitched out of anger. "And how will I do that, eh?"

"Climb down this mountain and go pick another mountain." Thor answered.

"Of course," Loki replied calmly "I'll just go out and get you some firewood so that we can start a fire and be warm... Oh? What's that? We can't get any firewood without falling off into the nothingness and dying? Oh?"

"Well, in that case, I guess we'll go a night without any warmth," Thor smiled. "After all, you are an ice giant."

Loki's eye twitched again. "_Jotun_," he corrected. "And I'm not worried about freezing to death, I'm worried ABOUT DYING OF STARVATION!"

Thor rolled his eyes. "Kings." he muttered.

Loki turned around and saw a city in the distance. He lifted up his finger and pointed at it and turned his head to Thor. "You see that?" he said hopelessly with his eyebrows knitted. "We could've gone there and blended in with all the others!"

"Brother," Thor said as he face palmed. "Just, just sit down."

They fell asleep that night (sitting up). Loki rolled off the opposite side of the mountain they climbed in his sleep, and Thor ended up doing the same. They woke up in the morning laying flat on the ground with little cuts and bruises. They were no further than twenty feet apart and they were in a forest halfway buried in the snow. When Loki woke up, he was happy because he did not like spending the night at the top of a peek. He stood up and looked around the snowy Oregon pine (or douglas fir) tree forest. He was curious as to what he was hearing in the distance as it softly echoed throughout the quiet woods. He looked up and noticed a tree moving and it began to fall his way. If Loki wasn't too horrified, he would've ran, but lucky for him, the very top of the tree fell to his feet (the whole tree fell, but Loki was only one inch safe). He wasn't sure what to do, but he did know that he fell on the wrong side of the mountain.

"Loki?!" Thor called in the distance.

"Over here!" Loki replied. Suddenly he looked across in front of him, and standing at the other end of the tree was an elf with a saw in his hand. He was wearing what a mortal from the 1940's would wear for logging and he was staring directly at Loki. The light elf seemed quite curious and Loki on the other hand was wondering why he was as still as a deer at the headlights of a car. Thor came up next to Loki and he, too began to wonder the same thing Loki did.

"Are you alright?" the light elf asked in an Australian accent. "Do you understand English?"

"We're fine," Thor replied as he walked up to the elf. "And yes, we do understand English."

Loki, too approached the light elf.

"Might I ask where you come from?" The elf asked.

"Asgard," Thor replied. "We're cold and hungry and we will leave as soon as you tell us where the next town is."

"I can drive you there," said the elf. "I've brought my ol' Jenny."

"Jenny?" Loki asked.

"My car," said the elf, his purple eyes twinkling happily. "But don't call her that, she doesn't like to be called a 'car.'"

"We understand," said Thor. "My brother, here is adopted and he also doesn't like to be called that."

Loki glared at Thor as the elf introduced himself as Adric.

"Nice to meet you, Adric," Thor shook his hand. "I am Thor Odinson, and this is Loki Odinson."

"Laufeyson." Loki muttered.

"Ah," said Adric. "Come with me, lads."

They followed the light elf through the forest and through a clear-cut area. In the clear-cut area were some light elf loggers taking their lunch break by their cars. Adric brought them to his green car which was also the 1940's style.

"What are they going to use all this lumber for?" Thor asked out of curiosity.

"Cabins," Adric answered happily. "They're also going to plant a Christmas tree farm here."

"Christmas tree?" Loki asked in a puzzled manner.

Adric snorted. "You're joking!"

Thor and Loki stared at him for an answer.

Adric's smile faded and he stopped laughing. "I'm sorry. Please excuse my rudeness. You must be jewish."

"Jewish? No… I don't believe so..." Thor said.

"Buddhist?" asked Adric.

Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Christian…? Atheist…?"

"No." Loki glared.

Adric chuckled. "You two must be Pagans!"

"Do you mean _pigeons_ by any chance?" Thor asked.

"Sure, if you like to eat bird seed!" The light elf joked.

Loki began to shake his head slightly as if he was unamused.

Adric's smile faded. "Christmas trees are a decoration that you use for Christmas and you put presents underneath it."

"What's a Christmas?" Thor asked.

"The _best_ holiday in the universe!" Adric answered. "Santa and his humans make toys for children and it's… It's truly beautiful…"

"Santa," Loki remembered. "Brother, we've celebrated Christmas once… Except we didn't have a tree."

"Oh," said Thor. "Yes, I do remember! And it's actually Santa and his _elves_… Not Santa and his… _Humans_."

"Santa has elves?" Adric asked.

"You believe in him, don't you?" Thor glared.

"Who wouldn't?" Adric asked.

"Me." Loki glared.

Adric frowned. "Jesus still loves you, Loke."

Loki nodded, still confused as to what the heck this elf was talking about.

They were riding in the car. Loki in the back, Thor riding shotgun and Adric driving and singing Christmas songs… And of course after a while, Thor began to sing along and Loki sat in the back plugging his ears. "Hey, Thor," Adric stopped singing.

"Falalalala-lalalala—"

"Thor."

"Huh?"

"Guess how many days until Christmas." Adric smiled.

"How many?" Thor asked.

"Three days."

"If only I knew what you were talking about." Loki glared as he still plugged his ears.

"Oh!" Adric smiled as they pulled into a driveway of a pretty two story house. "We're here!"

"About time," Loki grumbled. "My fingers are frozen to my ears. Please tell me your house has a fireplace."

"It does," Adric smiled as he reached behind his seat and yanked Loki's fingers from his ears. "I just like to be cold." and then he opened his door and got out and the others did the same.


	15. Chapter 15- No I Won't

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER FOURTEEN~

Christmas Trees

WHEN THEY WERE HALFWAY TO THE TOP OF MOUNTAIN, LOKI FINALLY GAVE UP AND ALMOST USED HIS MAGICAL POWERS, BUT HE COULDN'T BECAUSE THEY WERE TAKEN AWAY ONCE THEY LEFT THE CAVE.

"Curses!" he bellowed.

"Why don't you just use your magic?" Thor asked.

"I can't!" Loki replied. "They won't work!"

"Maybe that was just one spell that didn't work!" Thor suggested.

Loki sighed and then he began to try and use every magical spell and nothing came out. He began to hit the rock (mountain) out of anger, but nothing happened.

"Loki!" Thor bellowed as he was already fifty feet ahead of him.

Loki climbed as fast as he could, constantly grumbling about how much faster he could climb if he had his powers back. Once he caught up to his brother, Thor suggested he should try using his ice giant powers.

"They're _Jotuns_, Thor." Loki corrected.

"Either way." said Thor as he climbed a little higher.

Loki took a little moment to aim his hand at his brother's butt to freeze it, but even that didn't work and he found himself hitting his hand against the rock and screaming, "Curses!" again.

Once they finally made it to the top, Loki of course, was angry.

"You expect for us to camp out _here_ for days?!" he bellowed. "We might end up _living_ here! Look at it, Thor! This is no more than a peek! I can't live on a peek! There is only enough room for one person to lie down! _One person_, Thor! And then it's an over two-thousand feet drop off! _Over two-thousand feet_, Thor—"

"Maybe you should just get your own mountain." Thor chuckled.

Loki's eye twitched out of anger. "And how will I do that, eh?"

"Climb down this mountain and go pick another mountain." Thor answered.

"Of course," Loki replied calmly "I'll just go out and get you some firewood so that we can start a fire and be warm... Oh? What's that? We can't get any firewood without falling off into the nothingness and dying? Oh?"

"Well, in that case, I guess we'll go a night without any warmth," Thor smiled. "After all, you are an ice giant."

Loki's eye twitched again. "_Jotun_," he corrected. "And I'm not worried about freezing to death, I'm worried ABOUT DYING OF STARVATION!"

Thor rolled his eyes. "Kings." he muttered.

Loki turned around and saw a city in the distance. He lifted up his finger and pointed at it and turned his head to Thor. "You see that?" he said hopelessly with his eyebrows knitted. "We could've gone there and blended in with all the others!"

"Brother," Thor said as he face palmed. "Just, just sit down."

They fell asleep that night (sitting up). Loki rolled off the opposite side of the mountain they climbed in his sleep, and Thor ended up doing the same. They woke up in the morning laying flat on the ground with little cuts and bruises. They were no further than twenty feet apart and they were in a forest halfway buried in the snow. When Loki woke up, he was happy because he did not like spending the night at the top of a peek. He stood up and looked around the snowy Oregon pine (or douglas fir) tree forest. He was curious as to what he was hearing in the distance as it softly echoed throughout the quiet woods. He looked up and noticed a tree moving and it began to fall his way. If Loki wasn't too horrified, he would've ran, but lucky for him, the very top of the tree fell to his feet (the whole tree fell, but Loki was only one inch safe). He wasn't sure what to do, but he did know that he fell on the wrong side of the mountain.

"Loki?!" Thor called in the distance.

"Over here!" Loki replied. Suddenly he looked across in front of him, and standing at the other end of the tree was an elf with a saw in his hand. He was wearing what a mortal from the 1940's would wear for logging and he was staring directly at Loki. The light elf seemed quite curious and Loki on the other hand was wondering why he was as still as a deer at the headlights of a car. Thor came up next to Loki and he, too began to wonder the same thing Loki did.

"Are you alright?" the light elf asked in an Australian accent. "Do you understand English?"

"We're fine," Thor replied as he walked up to the elf. "And yes, we do understand English."

Loki, too approached the light elf.

"Might I ask where you come from?" The elf asked.

"Asgard," Thor replied. "We're cold and hungry and we will leave as soon as you tell us where the next town is."

"I can drive you there," said the elf. "I've brought my ol' Jenny."

"Jenny?" Loki asked.

"My car," said the elf, his purple eyes twinkling happily. "But don't call her that, she doesn't like to be called a 'car.'"

"We understand," said Thor. "My brother, here is adopted and he also doesn't like to be called that."

Loki glared at Thor as the elf introduced himself as Adric.

"Nice to meet you, Adric," Thor shook his hand. "I am Thor Odinson, and this is Loki Odinson."

"Laufeyson." Loki muttered.

"Ah," said Adric. "Come with me, lads."

They followed the light elf through the forest and through a clear-cut area. In the clear-cut area were some light elf loggers taking their lunch break by their cars. Adric brought them to his green car which was also the 1940's style.

"What are they going to use all this lumber for?" Thor asked out of curiosity.

"Cabins," Adric answered happily. "They're also going to plant a Christmas tree farm here."

"Christmas tree?" Loki asked in a puzzled manner.

Adric snorted. "You're joking!"

Thor and Loki stared at him for an answer.

Adric's smile faded and he stopped laughing. "I'm sorry. Please excuse my rudeness. You must be jewish."

"Jewish? No… I don't believe so..." Thor said.

"Buddhist?" asked Adric.

Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Christian…? Atheist…?"

"No." Loki glared.

Adric chuckled. "You two must be Pagans!"

"Do you mean _pigeons_ by any chance?" Thor asked.

"Sure, if you like to eat bird seed!" The light elf joked.

Loki began to shake his head slightly as if he was unamused.

Adric's smile faded. "Christmas trees are a decoration that you use for Christmas and you put presents underneath it."

"What's a Christmas?" Thor asked.

"The _best_ holiday in the universe!" Adric answered. "Santa and his humans make toys for children and it's… It's truly beautiful…"

"Santa," Loki remembered. "Brother, we've celebrated Christmas once… Except we didn't have a tree."

"Oh," said Thor. "Yes, I do remember! And it's actually Santa and his _elves_… Not Santa and his… _Humans_."

"Santa has elves?" Adric asked.

"You believe in him, don't you?" Thor glared.

"Who wouldn't?" Adric asked.

"Me." Loki glared.

Adric frowned. "Jesus still loves you, Loke."

Loki nodded, still confused as to what the heck this elf was talking about.

They were riding in the car. Loki in the back, Thor riding shotgun and Adric driving and singing Christmas songs… And of course after a while, Thor began to sing along and Loki sat in the back plugging his ears. "Hey, Thor," Adric stopped singing.

"Falalalala-lalalala—"

"Thor."

"Huh?"

"Guess how many days until Christmas." Adric smiled.

"How many?" Thor asked.

"Three days."

"If only I knew what you were talking about." Loki glared as he still plugged his ears.

"Oh!" Adric smiled as they pulled into a driveway of a pretty two story house. "We're here!"

"About time," Loki grumbled. "My fingers are frozen to my ears. Please tell me your house has a fireplace."

"It does," Adric smiled as he reached behind his seat and yanked Loki's fingers from his ears. "I just like to be cold." and then he opened his door and got out and the others did the same.


	16. Chapter 16- Driving Lessons

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER SIXTEEN~

Driving Lessons

WHEN THOR AND LOKI WERE BROUGHT INTO ADRIC'S HOUSE, IT LOOKED LIKE CHRISTMAS THREW UP ALL OVER THE PLACE. They were seated in the living room on a nice cozy couch by the fireplace and were offered tea by Adric's lovely wife. Adric's three children came from downstairs. The oldest happily grabbed a plate of snickerdoodles and set them down on the coffee table which stood in the center of the living room. The three young light elves sat down on the floor eating the fresh baked gingerbread men and snickerdoodles with smiles on their faces.

"Oh," Adrics wife said as if she had forgotten something. "How rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself and my family."

Thor smirked as he grabbed a gingerbread man and ate an arm.

"My name is Cammeal, this is my eldest; my only daughter, Austa. And these are my twin boys, Levi and Bartholomew."

"I'm Thor and this is my brother, Loki." said Thor as he finished up the rest of the cookie.

"He's adopted." said Adric.

"Who, Thor?" Bartholomew asked.

"No, Loki." Adric answered.

Loki sighed.

"He seems a little dark." said Levi.

"And kind of creepy." Bartholomew finished.

"I think he's quite handsome, now stop being rude." Austa said to her brothers.

Cammeal chuckled. "Excuse them. Levi and Bartholomew are both ten and Austa is twelve."

"My brother's middle name is Bartholomew." said Thor as he took another gingerbread man.

Loki slumped his shoulders in a sad manner and took a snickerdoodle in front of him.

"Hey, dad!" said Levi.

"What is it?" Adric smiled.

"I was learning Norse Mythology in school the other day and Loki is actually the brother of Odin All Father!"

Loki sat up and coughed snickerdoodle. Lucky for him, he covered his mouth. "Oh, pardon me," he said when he realized he had all eyes on him. He swallowed to make sure the snickerdoodle was down. "I… I must be allergic to…" he looked in front of him where the Christmas tree was. "I think I'm allergic to your tree."

"Oh, no worries," said Adric. "We flocked it."

Loki looked at the heavily flocked tree. He couldn't see any green on it whatsoever. "I'm allergic to… White things."

"You're allergic to snow?" Bartholomew asked.

Loki glared. "Yes."

"You're allergic to paper?" asked Austa.

"Yes." Loki answered.

"You're allergic to frosting?" Levi wondered.

"Only if it's vanilla."

"You're allergic to white chocolate?"

"Yes."

"Yourself?"

"No, I'm allergic to you."

"Are you allergic to socks?" Bartholomew asked mischievously.

"That's if they're white socks." Loki glared.

"What about underwear?" Bartholomew smirked.

"May we go, now?" Loki turned to Thor.

"No," Thor answered. "Eat a gingerbread man."

"So if you're allergic to us," said Austa. "Then that must mean you're also allergic to golden things."

"I'm not allergic to golden things," Loki answered. "In a matter of fact, gold is my favorite stone. See? I wear it."

The kids smiled.

"Although I am very much so more allergic to children than I am of trees and white things."

The kids frowned.

"He's lying," Thor chuckled. "Loki _loves_ children."

"_He's lying_," said Loki. "I _hate_ children."

"Oh, don't fool yourself, Loki," said Adric's wife. "Everyone loves children deep down inside."

"I met a burglar once, and he patted me on the cheek," Levi smiled. "He was so excited, he patted me a little too hard and I fell to the floor."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Thor, I think we need to go now."

"Okay." Thor said willingly.

"Oh, please stay," Austa begged. "It's oh so very cold out there; it's frightful, I say. We have two extra bedrooms, and you are welcome to stay here as long as you like. I won't bother you, I promise. I'll keep my brothers in tact. They are mischievous, you see, but I promise, they won't bother you. You can spend Christmas with us! Oh, Christmas is delightful! We'll even have presents for you! It's only three days; that's not too bad, is it?"

Thor and Loki were silent. Loki kept thinking of how he didn't want to hurt any of their feelings. He knew how sensitive light elves were. "Fine," he said. "We'll stay."

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" Austa came up to Loki and hugged him. Bartholomew and Levi ran up and also hugged Loki. Before he knew it, he couldn't breath, they were hugging so tightly. But they let go, giggling and smiling. Next thing Thor and Loki knew, was that there they were the very next day, learning how to drive.

"We are going to die!" said Loki in the back seat.

"Hush, Loki," said Adric who was riding shotgun. "Don't listen to him, Thor. You'll be fine."

Thor took a deep breath. He put his hands on the steering wheel and gently applied the gas and they were driving smoothly until a squirrel ran across the road. Thor forgot where the breaks were at and he ended up applying the gas even more and they ran into some trash cans. The car stopped.

"That wasn't so bad." Adric said after a couple of moments of silence.

Loki was as frozen as a statue with his hands holding onto the front seats. He was panting and his eyes were shut tightly. He shook his head and blinked a couple of times when he finally snapped out of it, he let go of the seats and began to yell. "You could have gotten us killed, Thor! You almost killed us! We could have died—"

Loki was interrupted by the airbags blowing up in his face. "Curses!" he screamed as he hit the airbag.

Then it was Loki's turn.

"Don't kill us, Loki." Thor glared as he sat in the back seat.

Loki sighed. "Oh please, you're going to be so jealous!"

"Boys," said Adric. "Don't criticize each other. Loki, just apply the gas."

Loki pulled a lever and applied the gas, of course, but he ended up speeding and going backwards in reverse and they ran into the curb. Loki, of course was screaming—I mean, _everyone_ was screaming until the car stopped. Loki banged his head against the wheel and Thor on the other hand was laughing like a little kid. And of course, the airbag to the driving wheel blew up in Loki's face which caused Thor to laugh even harder. And Adric was face palming and saying, "Poor, Jenny. My poor, poor Jenny…"


	17. Chapter 17- The Giants of Alfheim

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER SEVENTEEN~

The Giants of Alfheim

NICHOLE WENT ON HER HORSE TO GO AND GET SOME FIREWOOD, WHILE FANDRAL QUICKLY CHANGED. Like he had said earlier, he took off his shirt and replaced it with his fur coat. He was freezing, of course, but he was a whole lot warmer with a dry coat around his shoulders. But then he remembered that Lady Sif had pulled a prank on him a long time ago by stuffing his saddlebag with a pair of pants instead of food to annoy him when he was hungry. He had always forgot to take them out every time he came back from battle, so that meant he had an extra pair of pants. He rushed over to his horse, opened the saddle bag and found the pants. "Please still fit me, please still fit me." he muttered as he changed into them, and once they were totally on, he sighed in relief. He set his wet pants aside with the wet shirt for when Nichole came back with the firewood. Although he waited until dark and she still did not come back. He waited for hours since she had left. He looked to the direction she went; to the North in front of him and only a mile away, he saw a forest under the moonlight. He zipped up his coat, stood up and mounted his horse. He urged it to go to the North where the forest was a mile away and it ran to that direction. As the horse ran, the wind blew in his face. He would have opened his mouth to call for Nichole, but he has had too many awkward moments when he held the Asgardian flag high in triumph during a battle, shouting, "Asgard forever!" until a bug flew into his mouth and down his throat. Once he had made it into the forest, he stopped the horse. He urged it to go backwards and out of the forest at the border of where it started. He stared up at the tall redwood trees. They were as tall as Hyperion, the tallest tree in the world; 379 feet tall and they were over twenty feet wide in the trunk. Fireflies flew along in the forest in different colors; blue, green, gold, silver, purple, red and pink. Anything could be inside that forest. Fandral was indeed nervous about going into a dark forest like that. Asgardian warriors don't usually run into an old growth forest during the night for a young and pretty maiden. He felt like he should've gone with her; she had a sword, but she didn't know how to use it. She might as well not have a weapon at all. Fandral took a deep breath and urged his horse to go forward. The deeper he went into the forest, the more fireflies flew around him. He looked behind and saw that the fireflies were following him. Fandral was getting light, but not enough. He past through a little spring. He went deep inside the woods so deep, that there wasn't any snow on the ground. A black bear climbed down a tree and began to follow Fandral along with the fireflies. A deer, too came along with a wild white mustang and a squirrel with a chipmunk and a raccoon. A bobcat and a cougar followed along and Fandral was getting quite uncomfortable. The white mustang walked along beside Fandral and his horse quietly and joyfully. More forest animals joined him until Fandral urged his horse to run which all the other animals ran along with him. As his horse ran as fast as it could, he told the horse to go faster until it slipped and almost fell into a cave. He patted the horse on the side of its neck and peeked down to look into the cavern which had a bright fiery light in it. He dismounted the horse and turned around. The animals stood staring at him ten feet away wagging their tails and making noise. One of the wolves was growling while the mustang in front was neighing a bit and twitching her ears as she watched Fandral with the cougar sitting next to her like a small house cat begging for food, and a bear on the other side of the mustang stood and sniffed the air in a cute manner with an arctic wolf doing the same and occasionally wagging its tail. The fireflies and the owls perched in the trees along with glowing humming birds which peeped and twitched their wings. The buck, moose, and elk stood in the back fair and tall. Fandral was really curious of why the animals were following him, but at that moment he didn't care and climbed down into the cavern. The animals followed him down in there except for his horse, whom stayed for a while and ventured off back to camp, but after a couple of minutes it was spooked and ran through the forest, turned back around, and followed Fandral and the animals into the cave with them. Fandral walked through the cave with probably the best light around; fireflies and glowing humming birds. He peered to the end where the fiery light was coming from. It was a room the size of the whole castle in Asgard filled with giants. They looked to be normal human beings, except huge. If Fandral were to guess how tall they were, he would've said they were about a hundred feet or so, but Fandral found it strange that the only woman was this pretty little skinny five foot ten inch redhead with wavy silky and hair in a golden dress tied up in diamonds getting pushed around if she didn't dance to the music. Fandral wasn't thinking until he realized that was Nichole he was looking at. They threw large ice cubes the size of a car at her. Each time she was hit, she fell to the ground with a little blue climbing up her arms until she warmed back up again, which caused her to stay on the floor, trying to rest or play dead. The giants kept flicking her and hurting her badly. Each time she tried to throw ice at them with her powers, she failed. Fandral wanted to help her, but he felt defenseless. "ENOUGH!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs. The music stopped and all the giants looked to Fandral. "LEAVE MY GIRL ALONE!"

Nichole stood up and stared at Fandral as she picked at the diamond cuffs around her wrists. The giants all began to laugh. Fandral thought Nichole was a frost giant, and thought frost giants were huge, but he began to think Jotuns were no more than tall beings compared to real "_giants_." The animals behind him walked out into the room and grew as they came closer. They grew tall and large as big as the giants themselves, except for Fandral's horse, who just watched as the giant forest animals growled, neighed, hooted, chirped in vicious ways. Fandral smiled as the giants stopped laughing. The fireflies were the size of a human and started out by spitting fire at the giants a few times.

"May I have my girl back?" Fandral asked.

"NO!" the giants screamed.

The animals charged at the giants and caused a lot of damage. Fandral ran a hundred feet to Nichole who hugged him tightly and cried in relief. After they stopped hugging and she stopped crying, Fandral began to fiddle with the diamond chains. "Where's the keys?" he asked.

Nichole shook her head. "I'm not sure," she answered dryly. "I don't think there is a key."

"Hold on." said Fandral. He ran away from her looking for something hard enough to break diamonds. But all he could find was a broken piece of a giant sword. He picked it up, ran back to Nichole and began to hit it against the chains. He was hitting it as hard as he could, but nothing was happening.

"It's diamonds, Fandral," said Nichole. "They won't break."

"That's what they say about steal." Fandral replied as he continued.

The giant arctic wolf (who had blood splatters on his fur) came up to them, picked up the chain with his mouth, and bit it. The chain broke to pieces and it left. "Told you." said Fandral.

Nichole began to tug her last chain, but it wouldn't shatter. Another wolf came up and bit it.

"Let's go." Fandral said as he grabbed Nichole's arm and they ran out of the chaotic room with Fandral's horse following.

A giant broke out of the cave and ran over their heads, causing the roof of the cavern to shake and icicles falling down from it. Fandral and Nichole were running, but at the same time, they were trying not to get hit. They made it out and climbed up the wall. The giant stopped and he watched quietly and once they got out of the cave (including the horse), they mounted Fandral's horse and then the giant ran after them once Fandral urged the horse to run with Nichole hugging his waist. The giant caught up to them and slapped the horse aside. They were hit against the tree. The horse stood up and ran away, Nichole was unconscious and Fandral was wounded. He stood up and glared up at the giant.

"Give her back." said the giant in a deep tone.

Fandral continued to glare. They were no more than ten feet away from the end of the forest. Fandral had a strange idea. He picked up Nichole and ran as fast as he could (tripping and slipping) and made it out into the field. The giant followed, but once he made it out there, Fandral tripped over the deep snow and fell to the ground. The giant yelped as the moonlight caused him to explode into dust. It was silent.

Fandral carried Nichole back to camp. Sure, he had no wood, horse, or weapons, but he did have armor, extra wet clothes and Nichole. Nichole was wearing a dress with thin fabric, but only straps instead of sleeves, so Fandral laid down to sleep and even shared his extremely large fur coat for the night. It was very uncomfortable, but it was a good deal warmer than no coat at all.


	18. Chapter 18- The Only Truth

**The Story of Nichole**

~CHAPTER EIGHTEEN~

The Only Truth

LOKI HAD BEEN CHRISTMAS SHOPPING FOR HOURS. Loki was the first to realize that he and Thor had been practically brainwashed into thinking they were young teenage light elves. But that's later on in this story.

Loki was pushing a shopping cart full of gifts for the family of light elves. Every time he looked in the mirror, he was indeed a light elf. His skin was a light tan that gleamed enough to look almost like gold. His hair was short and curly with a bright blond color, he had pointy ears and his eyes were, of course, green, yet they, too gleamed. Loki was wearing different clothes, of course. He was wearing a 1940's style men's suit, except he wore a brown vest over the white shirt and a tie tucked in properly. But Loki didn't _really_ look like this. Sure, he looked in the mirror, he walked around in public and nobody thought anything of it, but it was no more than an illusion that Alfheim casted on him and Thor (who also looked to be a light elf), like a spell. Thor had already learned about the realm of Alfheim. How it plays tricks on you. How it makes you psychologically think that you're a light elf and not who you really are. It was almost like a desert… Let me mention Death Valley in California, or Route 666. Maybe I might be able to say the Bermuda Triangle and such. Except, the realm almost has a mind of its own. It's a planet of course, but magic is everywhere in it. You could die from a bear chasing after you, or you may not. For an example: If you were running from a bear who was chasing you, the magic will either let the bear kill you, or it will make the bear think of you as a friend and save your life. Now you know why Midgard is the only planet within the nine realms that has technology and is well… Modern, while the others seem historical. Of course, you may be wondering why the light elves live a certain way similar to the 1940's. They have barriers that magic cannot cross. Remember how that giant was chasing Fandral and Nichole? And how once he came into the moonlight, he turned to dust? Because he was a giant, he was magic himself. So when he was about kill Nichole and Fandral, he turned to dust when he was exposed to the moon.

But Loki didn't know this. He was lucky to figure it out himself when he was checking out and paying for the gifts he was buying. He couldn't believe it; he let the magic sweep him off his feet without him noticing. Loki didn't have too many excuses. Light elves seemed to be so… Well, charming, cute, nice, and good, so when the young Light elves begged him to stay, would you say no? Probably not. Which is why he said yes.

"Are you alright?" the cashier asked with her purple eyes full of concern.

Loki shivered a bit from daze. "I—I think so," he replied. "I'm not sure."

She nodded. "It's probably just the holidays, mate."

_Mate._ He doesn't say _mate_. Loki's green eyes widened. _Lass_ and _Lad _is what people around him said. He said _mortal_ or _minion_. "Well then, love," he said in his normal Asgardian accent. "Thank you; I'm sure that is the reason."

She smiled and nodded as she added up the costs of the items and gave him the piece of paper. Loki pulled out his wallet and gave her the money happily. He put the items in the cart and exited the market. _Love_, He thought to himself. He never calls people _love_. Sure, at this point he had already realized he was brainwashed by being exposed to Alfheim magic when he was in the cave.

He put the bags of items in the back seat of Adric's car and sat in the driver's seat. He had went to the store alone and thankfully he had already earned his license, so Adric the Light elf trusted him with ol' Jenny. He shut the door and sat there in daze. Loki turned his head and looked out the window at the side mirrors. He didn't look like himself, though; he still looked like an elf. He sighed as he started the engine and gently applied the gas and backed out of the parking spot and out onto the main road. He was going to drive back to the house, but he knew he would probably forget everything he was thinking about by then. So he took a left turn (literally) and began to drive around the city. He kept thinking. What was his real home called, again? He couldn't quite get his arms around it until he passed by a restaurant called, "Asgard" with a familiar castle under the big words. Now he remembered what his real home was called.

"Asgard…" Loki said in a curious manner to himself. He knew he had friends and family there. He began to wonder if Thor was Asgardian, too. Who else around me is Asgardian? he thought. Then all the cruel recent memories in his life came back to him all at once. And the worst part was the Chitauri. That memory was almost like he was reliving it. So it caused him to pull over in a parking lot from shaking, his heart pounding, and the sudden need to scream and possibly cry.

_He fell off the rainbow bridge, mother,_ said Thor's voice so suddenly in his mind. The scene appeared. Thor and Frigga was standing in a hallway in Asgard. "I told him not to," Loki's brother continued. "But his hand slipped and he fell into the ongoing depths of the universe."

Frigga's eyes watered as she turned around and began to walk away. Thor followed and when he caught up to her, she let out her tears and they hugged each other.

The scene shifted. There they were, Thor, Loki, and Odin All Father. Odin was holding a scepter. Thor and Loki were holding it too, but they were both dangling off of the rainbow bridge. Odin was getting ready to pull them up, but after Loki had been told, "no" he let go and fell into nix. Loki fell into a portal and landed hard and flat on his back on cement in a dark realm. He groaned in pain as he sat up. After he took a shaky breath, he looked around the dark area. He stood up and walked around. Loki looked up at the sky and it was filled with stars everywhere. He turned his head to his left and saw a staircase with blue lights surrounding it. Out of curiosity, he climbed it. The staircase wasn't that tall at all, so once he made it to the top and saw a throne in the center, he knew better that he should have ran back down. But instead, he continued to creep towards it. When he approached the throne, he creped to the other side. It was empty. Loki would have sat in it, but this realm looked too… Well, untrustworthy. Loki heard a sudden sound of a shoe taking a step on gravel. He quickly looked up and in front of him was this man with red skin. It was Thanos, but he didn't know that. Loki gulped.

"What brings you here, Asgardian?" Thanos asked him.

Loki was quiet. He mumbled, but it sounded as if he was talking normal. "I—I'm really not quite sure."

Thanos nodded.

The scene shifted to the worst part; Loki was in a cell, chained to the cold brick wall. His shirt was torn to pieces and his torso was exposed from the Chitauri whipping at his back. It was a very gruesome memory of a punishment. Loki didn't quite remember what caused them to go insane, but it was surely terrifying and he knew he didn't deserve it. Suddenly, they stopped whipping him as Thanos approached them. "You haven't even started?" he asked.

"My lord," a guard replied. "Sire… Every strike we hit at him, he quickly heals."

Thanos turned to Loki. The way he was chained was quite different. He was kneeling and facing the opening of course. One hand was chained to one wall and the other was chained to the other wall. He was panting and all he wanted was rest.

Thanos glared down at him. "Stop that." he warned.

Loki forced a chuckle and slowly looked up at him in the eyes. "Oh, no," he smiled. "Never."

Thanos looked to one of the guards standing next to him. "This is why I hate Asgardians," he said. "They are mischievous and unwise with their magic."

"Who says that all Asgardians play with magic?" Loki asked with the same expression. "If anything, the _Shit_auri is worse."

Thanos glared. "Finish him off." and then he began to walk away.

A guard brought out an axe and Loki bellowed, "Wait!"

It was silent. Thanos turned around and walked back up to Loki. "If you have any more insults for me, I suggest you say them now."

Loki shook his head in a miserable manner. "Is there any possible way to join you?"

Thanos hesitated. "What do you mean?"

Loki took a deep breath. "I can help you."

"Help us with what?" Thanos asked. "We need not any help!"

"The Tesseract disappeared during the battle against the Jotuns in Midgard. I'm sure you've heard of the relic, yes?"

"And your point is?" Thanos asked.

"It's an energy source, and it is _very_ powerful. Ever since it was lost, Asgard was not the same. If you have the Tesseract, then you will rule over the nine realms; just like God."

"But can you rule over God?" Thanos asked.

Loki shook his head. "I'm not sure…"

The room fell silent.

"Unchain him." Thanos finally said after a while.

Suddenly there was a knock on the window. Loki blinked and looked around and standing by the car was a police officer. It was dark now and his car was parked under a lamp post. Loki rolled down the window. "Good evening, officer."

"Is everything alright?" the officer asked.

Loki gulped as he hesitated to nod. "Yes," he answered. "I just pulled over because someone was asking for a car accident by cutting in front of me. Just waiting to calm down, that's all."

The officer looked around the car. "You take it easy."

Loki nodded. The police officer walked away and got back into his vehicle. Loki rolled up his window. He had been day dreaming for hours. Although it didn't feel that way. He picked up the one of the grocery lists, ripped off a corner, wrote on it, and stuffed it in his pocket. _I am not an elf; I am Asgardian_, is what he had said. Loki took a deep breath, started up the engine and left the parking lot. He drove back to the house and parked ol' Jenny in the garage. He got out of the car, unloaded it and brought the heavy bags of Christmas presents inside. He, of course, was tackled by the children as a group hug once he had entered the house. He set down the bags, knelt, and hugged back. He still remembered and was still stumbling over the memory of being tortured and beaten alive in an unknown realm. But he forced a chuckle and pretended to be happy as he hugged (what he thought were his siblings, but he not yet knew they weren't) the children.


End file.
